RR
by Emperor Lulu
Summary: "In the event that world peace is ever threatened, open this canister." That was the only instruction given, and it was all that was needed. Over one hundred years after his death, the peace Lelouch died for has been lost. And he has been awoken to reclaim it.
1. Rebirth

**R.R.**

 **Hah! I tricked you! You all thought this would come out later! Nope, that's chapter two! Muah ha ha!**

 **Chapter one: Rebirth.**

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It all leads up to this. Months of planning, weeks of agonizing waiting. It all ends now. He felt a uneasy feeling earlier this morning, knowing that today would be the day. But he guessed he should be grateful. How many people know when they're going to die?

But standing here now, Lelouch knew that it would soon be over. The pain and loneliness he felt would soon be gone. It brought a strange sort of peace. In a few minutes it would be done, and there would be nothing to worry about. His part had been played, his role was finished.

At the ripe old age of eighteen, he could finally rest. That's all he wanted to do. Rest.

And so when he saw the mythical figure of his own making standing like a hero of legend on the horizon, he knew the time had come.

The masked vigilante darted up the streets, avoiding strafing gunfire as he swiftly approached the float where Lelouch stood. He jumped atop Jeremiah, who allowed the man to fly past him. And seconds later, he was inches away.

Lelouch played his role to the very end, keeping up the persona he fabricated until his death. "You impudent fool!" He barked, reaching for the gun hidden in his robes. Zero quickly knocked it aside with his sword, and raised it to Lelouch's chest.

Time itself seemed to freeze in place. The stunned looks on everyone's faces. The confusion among those who knew. And in this moment, seconds before the end, Lelouch finally dropped his mask. And he smiled. A real genuine smile. Not the smile of success, nor the devious look he got when a master plot was unfurling. This was the look of happiness. One Lelouch never had the opportunity to show.

The pain was very sudden, and overwhelmed him only a moment, it soon washed away, and he was left with a numb feeling. His heavy eyes strained to stay open as he placed a blood covered hand over the mask his friend wore.

"Your punishment for what you have done shall be this then." He whispered.

"You shall wear that mask and serve as a knight of justice and truth."

He drew a deep ragged breath, struggling against his weak body. "You will no longer live your life as Suzaku Kururugi. You will sacrifice the ordinary pleasures of life for the benefit of the world. For all eternity."

"This Geass, I do solemnly accept."

Suzaku pulled out the sword, and without anything to support him, Lelouch stumbled, and collapsed over the side of the float. He slid down the front of it, a red trail behind him.

He stopped at the bottom, laying near where Nunnally was chained to the float. Tentatively, she approached him, hand out cautiously. "Lelouch, are you..." She grasped his hand, and stopped.

"You mean, all this time..."

Suddenly, she hugged him. "Oh brother, I love you!"

Lelouch smiled. He was vaguely aware of Nunnally, and could hardly hear anything. His vision began to fade as his weary eyes slowly closed.

"Yes." He whispered, so quietly that no one could hear him. "I destroy the world, and create it...anew."

And with that, Lelouch Vi Britannia, eleventh prince of Britannia, and seventeenth in line to the throne, ninety-ninth emperor of the realm, and son of Marianne Vi Britannia, the man of miracles, and the demon emperor.

Died.

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Death was pleasant. Calming, relaxed, and warm even. There was not a care left in the world. And if there was a heaven and hell, he knew there was only one place for him to go. But for now, Lelouch was complacent with this simple nothing. It gave him a chance to rest, and to think. He did a lot of thinking. It was one of the things that kept him sane while he was alive, and it helped that he enjoyed it.

But in that infinite nothing, there was something. That something was small at first, hardly noticeable. Then it got bigger, an inexplicable existence in his haven of nothing. And then-

Lelouch's eyes shot open, and a very audible gasp alerted the person sitting next to him.

"Lelouch!" The startled Suzaku scrambled next to him. "Looks like I was right." He said.

"What do you mean?" Lelouch croaked, his voice dry as he coughed.

"Your forehead, and palm too." Suzaku told Lelouch.

Lelouch looked around until he saw a mirror, and in it, what Suzaku was talking about. He touched his forehead, the same place where the mirror showed the impossible. The Geass sigil. He looked at his palm, and there it was too.

"What...what is this?" Lelouch asked, fearfully.

"This can't be. No, it can't!" He started to cough again, worse this time.

"After everything, this is what happens?!" More coughing.

"Lelouch..." Suzaku grabbed his arm.

"How?" Lelouch began again, bitterness in his voice. "I suppose it makes sense. After all, why do I deserve peace in death? This is the penance I must serve for what I've done. There is no place left for me in the world, and I have been condemned to walk it for eternity."

"Lelouch!" Suzaku shouted at him, shutting Lelouch up. He looked at Suzaku, and at the mask he was holding up to him.

"It's been nearly a month since you died. The world is moving on into a better age. You deserve to be there, to lead them. Nobody could do it better." Suzaku said, offering the mask to him.

Lelouch stared at it, a longing gaze as he remembered just what it was like to be Zero. Nothing was more exciting, made him more alive. But he knew there was only one answer to that offer.

"No. I can't. I no longer belong in this world, I've done my part."

Suzaku withdrew the mask, looking down.

Lelouch sighed. "There is only one option for me."

Suzaku looked up.

"I must disappear."

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The long and dark maze of hallways and corridors allowed Lelouch to adjust to the darkness, so when the bright floodlights turned on he was momentarily blinded. When he could finally see, him and Suzaku were surrounded by machinery and generators, a steady hum started up a few seconds later. And in the center, was the primary feature of the secret underground room. A large metal canister.

"What is this place?" Suzaku asked.

"I had it built once I heard of V.V. In the event that I captured him. It seems that it will now serve another purpose."

Suzaku turned to him. "You don't mean-"

"Yes." Lelouch cut him off. "I don't belong in this world. So I, and this infernal code, shall disappear forever."

He closed his eyes and drew a breath. "C.C. once said that the power of kings would condemn me to a life of solitude. She wasn't talking about Geass, but this curse that would come with it."

Lelouch approached the control panel and pressed a few buttons, and the containment canister opened with a hiss.

"So this is it then." Suzaku said.

"I finally made peace with your deaths he first time but, now I have to say goodbye again."

Lelouch remained silent.

"Just, before you go, I need to tell you something."

He looked up at Suzaku.

"I...I'm sorry."

Lelouch frowned. "What?"

"This whole time, I hated you. I hated what you stood for, what you were doing. I was so focused on my methods I didn't realize what you were really trying to do. This was all for a better world. You may have done it differently, but you and I wanted the same thing. I just wish I saw it sooner. So, that's why I am forgiving you for everything you did."

Lelouch smiled, a sad gesture as he recalled the past year. The most eventful time of his life.

"Goodbye, Suzaku."

"Lelouch!"

He stopped, and turned to see who else had come. Nunnally was there to greet him, a sad look on her face as she approached him with Sayuko to help her.

"Nunnally." Lelouch whispered.

"How could you do this?" Nunnally asked, with a pain in her voice. "You would really just leave just like that? Without telling me anything? I, I can't lose you Lelouch, not again." Tears were streaming down her face as Lelouch knelt down to her level, and put a hand on her face.

"All I ever wanted was to be with you, I never wanted a peaceful world. It doesn't matter if you're not there with me."

"Nunnally. At first, I was foolish. I thought I could change the world for you, so you could be happy. But it wasn't that simple. I was a fool to think I could change everything for my own selfish needs. It took me too long to see, this wasn't about me, or you. But the for the sake of the entire world. How could I jeopardize the peace of the world for my own benefit now?"

He kissed Nunnally on the cheek, a final farewell, and stood up.

"I love you Nunnally. I'm sorry it has to be this way."

"No Lelouch, please!" Nunnally pleaded as he began to walk toward the empty canister.

"I'm dead Nunnally. Just please, move on."

"I don't want to lose you, please don't!"

He stepped in, and the locking mechanism began to close.

"Forget about me."

"Lelouch!"

That was the last thing he heard, the cry of his sister rang out for all eternity. While it only lasted a second, it repeated in his mind forever.

Goodbye. Nunnally.

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After passing through what must have been the tenth identical hallway, she began to question the legitimacy of the message. Each and every path was the same: dark, old and rotting. She wondered if anyone had been down here in a hundred years. Given the condition of this place it seemed unlikely.

But if it was true, it would all be worth it.

Eventually, she finally came to something promising. A heavy metal door sat out of place compared to the old concrete walls of the subways. Even still, it looked to be just as old. The door was locked, and she dug out the key that had been given to her along with the message: "If the peace of the world is ever threatened, open the canister."

That was it, that and vague directions. She wondered what it could possibly be as she descended the dark and foreboding stairs into nothingness.

Was it a weapon of some sort? A carefully detailed plan to set things straight? She had no idea.

Once she got to the bottom of the seemingly endless stairs, she groped around for a light switch, until she found a lever, and pulled it.

Blinding light suddenly flooded the chamber, causing her to shield her eyes. She looked around and saw a bunch of old and decaying machinery. She guessed it had been there for a long time at least. Apparently, her great grandmother knew what was down here, so it had to be pretty old.

And there it was: a massive silver canister. It was about as tall as she was, and covered in a thick layer of dust. She wiped some of it off, looking for a switch or something, she had no idea how to open it.

Suddenly, a loud hiss and a spray of gas that sent the dust flying blinded her once more. She struggled to see what was going on, until the canister opened, and a gust of wind blew it all away.

Silence followed as she gaped at what was in the canister.

It was a boy. He was at least eighteen or so, with long Black hair and slender features. He was wearing a white suit that seemed like a straight jacket of some sort. And on his forehead was a strange, red bird like symbol.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, and stared at her. She sat there a moment herself before remembering what she was doing.

"Um, hello." She said, no response.

"I am Aleina Et Britannia, ninth princess of Britannia." She waited and still nothing. Did he speak English?

"I came because I need your help." She said. This gave a response. He suddenly burst out laughing, a disturbingly maniacal laugh that put Aleina on edge.

"You need, my help?" He asked. "With what, exactly?"

"I, I was told that if world peace was ever threatened, to come here." Aleina told him.

"What? Did the EU invade? Oh, perhaps Britannia invaded Japan!" The boy started to laugh again, the same unsettling laugh.

Aleina was getting frustrated, and her time became more edgy. "My brother, the emperor, is planning to start a war."

He suddenly stopped, and narrowed his eyes. "Is that so?"

"The blueprints for FLEIJA warheads have been locked down for years by the UFN, but he found schematics left behind in secret by Schneizel El Britannia almost a century ago. I think my brother is going to use them to start a war."

The boy suddenly became very serious. "An entire century huh? That's all I got."

"The thing is, nobody else believes me. My brother is the kind of person that everyone likes, and nobody would suspect him to plan a war."

The boy smiled, a devious look that matched his laugh earlier. "Now isn't that something."

He stood, and stepped out of the canister. "Very well, I will help you, under one condition however."

"I'm sure I can grant you anything you wish." Aleina told him. "What is it?"

He grinned. "You'll see she the time is right." He started to walk out of the room. "Come, we have a war to stop."

Aleina started to follow him, but suddenly stopped. "Wait!" She called out. The boy turned to her. "What's your name?" She asked.

"My name?" He said, furrowing his brow. "I am le-no." He grinned again, the same devilish smile.

"Call me R.R."

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	2. An unexpected return

**R.R.**

 **Just so you know, R.R. Stands for Rurūshu Ranperūji, the Japanese pronunciation of Lelouch Lamprouche. Just to clarify.**

 **Chapter two: An unexpected return**

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Lelouch sat in the lavish seat in a private jet back to the Britannian homeland. He twirled a strand of long hair absentmindedly while browsing through the nifty glass panel Aleina called a computer. He debated on whether or not he should cut his hair, if he did, someone might be able to recognize him. As absurd an idea it was, paranoia won over the desire to cut off a foot of overgrown hair. Besides, it covered up the Geass sigil nicely.

He glanced up to see Aleina staring at him. She hurriedly looked down again, burying herself in her own little glass tablet. He shrugged it off and turned back to his 'computer.' It was quite remarkable really. It genuinely looked like a piece of glass, but when you tapped a small indent on the corner, the screen comes to life. The touch screen itself even made him jump like a little kid at Christmas.

A lot had happened over a hundred years. The world was not the same as he left it, but at the same time, it was better then he had hoped for. The world focused its time and energy on more productive outlets then war. Science and invention steered away from building a better knightmare frame and started working towards more civil inventions, like his touchy glass computer thing. It made him especially happy to see the the FLEIJA technology was adapted to create powerful sustainable energy, that bested that of sakuradite, only outmatched by its difficulty to control.

He also read up on the last one hundred years of royal family history. Nunnally, the centennial empress as she was called, ruled for well over fifty years. She ultimately retired, being the first ruler of Britannia to secede the throne while still being alive for quite some time afterward. She was succeeded by her daughter, Liliana Vi Britannia. Her son, Maurius Le Britannia ruled afterwards, whose son, Gideon Ce Britannia, Aleina's brother, and his apparent enemy, took the throne after his father's early death. Four generations in the last one hundred and seven years.

The year was 2125 A.T.B. the year the peace would finally wear out. Or at least he hoped, it would be a shame to be awoken for nothing. However, he already ha ample evidence that proved Aleina was in fact right. She seemed to him like the Euphy of her generation: the kindhearted, and caring girl whose heart was in the right place, but simply didn't have the knowledge or connections to really get ahead.

Lelouch wondered what Euphy might have done as empress. She showed that she truly cared for the lives of others, as the only thing she truly did of her own volition was create the SAZ. And he ruined it. Perhaps he owed it to Euphy to make this right. And set the right person on the throne for once. He couldn't have known Nunnally would have taken his place, he was certainly glad she did. Nunnally was just like Euphy in that regard.

So it owed it to the both of them. For everything he did to make them suffer at his extent. He would fix things this time. For both Nunnally, and Euphy.

He got up out of the seat, and looked out the window. It was remarkable that they could get from Japan to Britannia in simply forty five minutes. The jet they were on traveled up to nearly the edge of the atmosphere, to practically negate the effects of air resistance. It was brilliant really. They were already beginning to make their descent toward pendragon.

Still staring out toward the ocean, Lelouch decided to get some questions about his adversary answered. "So how did your father die?"

Aleina looked up at him, confuse at the lack of-apparently,- common knowledge. "He was killed in an accident about five years ago."

Lelouch nodded, and thought a moment before asking another. "Was your brother unanimously picked as the successor?"

"Of course. Like I said before, he was very likable. Everyone chose him indefinitely long before it became speculation to begin with. Public opinion and everything." Aleina answered.

Lelouch shook his head, smiling. "It that what one hundred years of peace does to a people? Leaves them completely blind to a political assassination even if it stared them in the face?"

Aleina's eyes widened in shock. "You-you think my father was murdered?!"

Lelouch just rolled his eyes. "Even you, who suspects your brother of foul misdeeds, didn't notice this?"

He sighed. "This might be more difficult then I thought."

Aleina frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if there's one thing I know, it's that the people are your most powerful weapon. And it appears our weapon is a...bit rusty. It's going to be hard to stir up a crowd against a tyrannical shadow dictator if they have no damn clue what a dictator is in the first place."

He slumped back into the chair, and rubbed his forehead.

"This will be worse then reasoning with Tamaki was." He muttered.

Aleina frowned. "Who's-"

She was interrupted by a sudden jolt, and the seatbelt notification blinking on.

"Attention, we will be landing in pendragon shortly." The captain announced.

Aleina strapped her seatbelt on and set her computer into a compartment in front of her. This R.R. was by far the strangest person she had ever met. Seriously, the way he stared at the computer, you'd think he had never seen one before. Although there was something familiar about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on. But that kinda seemed unlikely.

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As Lelouch exited the jet he was instantly met with the new pendragon's incredible allure. The entire feel of it just spoke sheer power. It was like the cities from fantasy stories mixed with futuristic portions as well, just...better.

Aleina had to nudge him to pull him out of his trance. He was just he was just staring all around like some European tourist. What was up with this guy?

"Princess Aleina, I trust your trip to Japan went as you planned?"

She was met by the aged prime minister of Britannia, who tended to appear out of the middle of nowhere. He was rather spry for his age.

"Indeed I did." She answered. "Prime minister, I would like you to meet my new colleague, uh...R.R."

Lelouch chuckled inside, he couldn't believe it. He may have aged...rather well. And it had of course been a very long time, but there was no mistaking the golden eyepiece replacing his left eye, the very thing that was responsible for his prolonged life.

Lelouch extended a hand. "Prime minister Gottwald, a pleasure to meet you."

The man finally looked up from his collection of papers to look at him, and he went bug-eyed. But even after a hundred years, he could take a que. He took Lelouch's hand.

"As is you."

"R.R. will be helping me with a pretty important task I have been mulling over. Hopefully I now have the necessary manpower to accomplish it."

Jeremiah wasn't one to pry, but he still knew she was skirting around something important. And unbeknownst to her, the man standing next to her didn't really help her case either. Still, if he was needed, he would gladly be of service to his lord once again.

"Well, if you are ever in need of assistance, don't be hesitant to ask." He nodded to Lelouch as they began to move on. "And R.R., welcome to pendragon."

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Lelouch had an overwhelming desire to order pizza. Maybe it was just an immortal thing, or pure irony that brought about the nostalgia. Regardless of the reason, he couldn't help but ask.

"Is Pizza Hut still around?" He asked Aleina, while falling onto the bed of the room she brought him to.

She frowned, clearly puzzled by the question. "Um...yeah, I guess."

"Mmm. That's satisfying." He really wanted pizza now.

"Anyway, so what are we going to do?" Aleina asked.

Lelouch stared up at the ceiling. He hadn't given that as much thought as he should. He was too busy learning what had happened in the last century. Not that he was to blame, he'd only been awake less then six hours. In fact, he could fairly say he made ample progress in that time.

"Give me a bit to assess the situation. I need to know the variables before I wage war against Britannia." He answered.

"Wage...war?" Aleina asked, confused.

Lelouch grinned. "Perhaps not. It would be best to wrap up the problem away from public eyes." He wouldn't want to imagine the issues this would bring up if it became known to the world.

Aleina nodded. "Right."

She bowed slightly toward him and exited the room. "My personal chambers are further down the hall if you need anything. Have a good evening."

As the door closed behind her, Lelouch let out a sigh. "What am I supposed to do?" He muttered.

The world he was in was by far alien. He was alone in this new world, with a duty to protect it suddenly thrust upon his shoulders. Imagine being waken up in the middle of the night and someone telling you to go save a hundred people from a threat you no absolutely nothing about; and then think about it on a global scale.

Regardless, he would never allow anyone to even dare disturb the peace he created, especially knowing he could do something about it.

He got up and made his way over to the closet. Unlike C.C., he did not find a straight jacket acceptable public apparel.

After a minute he picked out an intricate black coat to put over a white suit. A mix of the two persona's he used as Lelouch Vi Britannia. He found it to be fitting. Besides, if there was one thing he knew: when conquering the world, dress for it.

Donning his new outfit, Lelouch left the room to have a look around the palace. For the most part, it was exactly the same as the previous one. That was in sharp contrast to the vast changes to the city itself.

It was kind of funny to watch royals and servants alike stare at him. Not a single one had ever seen him before, so it was likely to write him off as a noble or foreign leader. But the way Lelouch carried himself was a lot different then they would expect. It was as is they were passing by the emperor himself. And technically they were right, Lelouch never did actually relinquish the throne. My, what a controversy he could start if he wanted.

The halls were nonetheless, endless and winding, only his experience wandering them as a child allowed him to at least somewhat dictate where he would go. However, he wasn't even actually certain where he wanted to go, so it didn't even really matter. He turned a corner an nearly ran head long into a cluster of individuals. Conversing in the hallway.

"I apologize." Lelouch said after stopping himself.

The man he nearly hit turned to him and smiled. "It's quite alright my friend." He tilted his head. "Sorry, I don't believe I have made your acquaintance."

Lelouch however, immediately recognized him. It was a bit hard to miss the face everyone online.

"Call me R.R. Your highness." He said extended a hand.

Gideon Ce Britannia took his hand and shook it. "Quite an interesting name. Going by initials?"

"What's a name other then a way to call for someone in a crowd?" Lelouch answered.

The emperor of Britannia chuckled. "Rightly so. My accomplices and I were just discussing this month's UFN conference, would you care to join us?"

Another thing he knew: don't oppose the emperor or you'll end up exiled in a foreign country in the middle of a war.

"Of course."

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Aleina felt even more lost then before she went to Japan. She had hoped to just find the solution, nearly wrapped and microwave-ready. Unfortunately that obviously wasn't the case. Instead she got stuck with the strangest person she had ever met. Not only that but he had been missing for over three hours.

She asked Jeremiah if he had seen him but he had nothing. Of all the people to put her faith and possibly that of the world, it was seeming more and more like the worst choice she had ever made. She had a really strong feeling they needed to act fast or they might just be too late. She herself had no real way to find out what Gideon was planning, nor could she understand it. She felt R.R. Actually was capable of pulling this off, and her great-grandmother certainly thought so as well, but she couldn't say she had no doubts.

She was so wrapped up her in thoughts that she missed the person in front of her and plowed straight into him.

"Aleina! Just who I was looking for!"

She frowned, he went missing then suddenly just runs into her? Literally. And what was up with that childish look of glee?

"R.R.? Where did you go? I was lo-" he cut her off with a wave of the hand.

"Never mind that. Guess what? I just found out the emperor is going to take control of the UFN council tomorrow!"

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	3. The puppet, and his master

**R.R.**

 **Well, I have planned out the plot for the whole story. I have to say, I am very, very excited. This will be good. Very good. I do hope you all agree as well.**

 **Shi Tzu: I actually gave that some thought, and I think I have a logical reason. You see, If Lelouch's hair doesn't grow, that means no other cells grow either. Sure, I see what you mean, but if that were the case, an immortal body would not produce blood. However, we see time and time again, an immortal getting wounded, and a normal amount of blood loss. It's a fact that humans need blood to live, so the body has to reproduce those cells, thus the body is still behaving regularly that way. See what I mean? I think that would follow along the lines of Baccano's immortality, Where the body regenerates to its permanent form upon injury.**

 **Chapter 3: The puppet, and his Master**

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"Well, this is bad. Isn't it?"

Aleina stole a glance at R.R. His expression didn't show a hint of worry. That infuriated her, though she didn't have the ability to exactly slap him upside the for his apparent lack of any sense of danger.

Instead, she turned her attention to the seven Britannian guardsman who all had weapons pointed directly at her.

The man in front, who she knew personally, the captain of the royal guard: Flauvious Escarmot, spoke up.

"I am truly sorry, my princess, but I am afraid that no one may know Britannia is involved. Not even you. I am only doing as I was ordered."

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Five hours earlier, Tokyo International airport, Japan.

"This really is silly isn't it? We were just in Japan hardly yesterday, wouldn't it have been so much easier if we just stayed?"

Aleina twitched. Is that really what he was thinking about? After what he just explained to her and he's worried about that? He was just so infuriating at times.

"So tell me again, what exactly we are doing here in the first place?!" Aleina asked, trying to bring his attention back to the matter at hand.

"Well, I suppose I should go into detail." R.R. said, getting into the back of the car that would take them to the UFN headquarters.

Once the two of them got inside, he began to explain.

"To anyone else who was talking with the emperor, it would seem like he simply held a concern for this certain group of people. And that's exactly what he was doing, foreshadowing events I assume will take place, then implanting the idea that he wanted to do something about, so those taking with him would subconsciously turn to him for leadership."

Aleina's face was blank. "...huh?"

R.R. sighed. "Well, let me start over. According to Gideon, a group called the Phoenix order has started to gain a grasp on the UFN's decisions. He implied that they might have obtained weapons to use in an armed take over of the UFN."

Aleina frowned. "But wasn't that what my brother was planning to do?"

He raised a finger. "Yes, your right there, but one thing that you missed was how. You see, Gideon is performing what's called a false flag operation: when the government of a certain nation or empire fakes or even orchestrates an internal threat in order to seize power in a passive way that doesn't implicate them in a negative way in the eyes of the public. Basically, this Phoenix order will act as a threat toward world peace. The people, who've known only peace, will be desperate to just make it go away. And will look toward anyone who offers them a solution."

Aleina nodded. "But, what about the FLEIJAs? I know for sure that he has them."

He just waved it off. "Eh, he probably gave them to the Phoenix order. Makes them seem a bigger threat. He'll probably get the UFN to allow him access to them legitimately. That way he can produce more without risk of being caught. More FLEIJAs, more power."

Aleina set her head in her hands, frowning. "You figured that all out from a five minute conversation with him?"

R.R. shrugged. "I once predicted what the most intelligent man I ever knew was going to say, and recorded myself answering him."

Aleina looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Not that big a deal." He said.

Aleina gaped at him. What was that supposed to mean?! She huffed, and turned back forward.

"Anyway, so what are we going to do about it?"

R.R. grinned. "Something stupid."

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"And that concludes our report on the European Union's financial situation."

The representative of France sat down, his report finished. The chairman thanked him and moved on.

"Now that our economic reports have been completed, let us resume discussion on the matter of Pacific transportation taxes from last session."

Lelouch had to admit, he was impressed.

The council actually did things. In the last hour, three different decisions were made regarding an annexation of two African countries, a dispute between counties and a Sakuradite deposit, and an armed conflict was dealt with almost immediately.

The only conclusion he could find was that these people genuinely wanted to see things resolved. They knew of violence and war in the past, and they wanted to keep it there. They liked what peace brought: flourishing nations. They truly knew world peace, and decided the better action would be to keep it.

He kept an eye on the members of the Phoenix order. Apparently, it was a faction of businesses inside Britannia, one that shared conflicting values with the majority of the UFN, and thus the world. However, they were quickly growing in influence. It's leader was a man named Claudius Stienfeld. Of course, the man was really just a puppet of the emperor, and not his real enemy, but he still might try to pull something when he begins to lose. Puppets tended to do that. So it was to his benefit to analyze the man.

Aleina sat next to him, gazing at the crowds, and trying to seemingly make sense of the topics and discussions. And he had admit, she didn't look too successful. But he didn't blame her, court wasn't for everyone. Even in this ideal scenario, Lelouch spotted rivalries, tensions, and underlying spite between factions. He wasn't disappointed or anything, it was bound to happen, people naturally shared opinions, and those opinions conflicted. It was human nature.

That aside, he prepared his little arrangement on his computer. If his guess was correct, then only variable that remained an issue was still out of his reach. He had Jeremiah, who was informed of his plan earlier, on standby to rectify that, but it couldn't be finished yet. Not without the enemy revealing themselves. So now it was just a waiting game.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Jeremiah sat at a desk surrounded by one too many monitors. It was his job to locate them once they showed up, and it wouldn't be very difficult, with the satellite system already operational. But the full gravity of what was revealed to him still weighed on his aged shoulders.

Just seeing his lord Lelouch, nearly gave him a heart attack. He was later informed that master Lelouch obtained a code from his father the emperor unknowingly. And when he awoke, he made the decision to seal himself away forever. Only Suzaku, Nunnally and Sayoko knew he was still alive. Not one other soul was privileged the knowledge.

That, and what he was here to do.

He almost felt ashamed he had not seen it himself. In fact, he was ashamed. The emperor was plotting to take control of the world, and he had not seen it? The emperor's right hand failed to see what the left hand was doing?

He had failed. His only purpose, the reason he allowed himself to live so long, was to guard and uphold his lord's sacrifice. And he had failed. So, this time, he would do everything in his physical capability, to fulfill his duty, to Lelouch Vi Britannia. The rightful emperor of Britannia.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lelouch fell asleep. To his defense, he had been awake for 23 hours. Not that it was much of an achievement, but when you were sleeping for so long, your body kinda likes to revert to that state. He had spent every minute of the night figuring out what he would do to defeat Gideon. That had admittedly drained him.

He jolted awake at a loud voice speaking up. He blinked a few times, looking around. To his present surprise, it was Claudius who rose. He perked up leaning in. "It's about time." He muttered.

"I have something to announce to the congregation." The man boomed.

The chairman frowned at him. "Claudius, we are still discussing the martial affair, can it wait?"

He shook his head. "I am afraid not. For you see, I have just received word that the FLEIJA device I possess is now operational."

The entire audience gasped.

The chairman stood up. "What do you mean by this?!"

"Exactly as it sounds." Claudius responded. "I am in possession of multiple operation FLEIJA warheads."

"You can't be serious?!" The empress of the Chinese federation asked, shocked.

"I am. And I would also ask that you would surrender to me, otherwise, I will use them against any and all countries that oppose me."

"How dare you?!" The chairman shouted. "What do you think you are doing?!"

Claudius glanced at the chairman. "This world is stagnate. This peace we think we have has frozen our civilization in a state of weakness. Without war, without conquest, without competition, there is no progress! For there is no goal in which to achieve! So I will give the world the push it needs to get back on the path toward evolution!"

Lelouch smirked. Evolution. Such a pretty word. The man sounded exactly like his father once did. Only Claudius was a bigger fool. This was the heart of a warmonger. Nothing short of it. He would not let a fool with blind ambitions ruin what countless innocent lives died to bring. This world was the ideal form. This imbecile has no idea what the word war truly means. He has not seen the horrors of death, the nightmares of hatred.

 _Not like I have._

"We will not stand for your empty threats! You are a coward Claudius! And you will not go unpunished." The prime minister of Japan shouted, rising to his feet.

"Is that so?" Claudius mused. "Then perhaps you need a demonstration."

He raised a hand, bringing it over a control panel resting on the desk near his seat.

"I will show you the power I possess."

He dropped his hand, slamming it over the button.

Seconds later, a blinding flash erupted around them. The devastating power of the FLEIJA was known once more. Right in front of their eyes.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

While the rest of the congregation, Aleina included, were in absolute panic mode, R.R. was furiously working on his computer. The power of the FLEIJA still visible, he worked on obtaining the last variable: the location of the enemy.

"Orange! How close are we?!" He shouted in his headset over the deafening screams.

"Origin X and Y located, calculating Z coordinate." He reported.

They had only 7.3 seconds after detonation to find the origin point of the launch before it would become impossible, that being because the second FLEIJA would wipe out the satellite ground uplink.

"Location confirmed!" Just as the words left his mouth, a second explosion erupted, and the signal went dead.

True, there was no way to know that the second warhead would hit, but judging from the location of the first one, it was a safe assumption. And one that obviously paid off.

"Now! You know what I am capable of! Surrender to me, and you will be spared of complete annihilation!"

Lelouch got up, and grabbed the dazed Aleina as he began to push his way out. He gave Claudius the bird as he shoved through the doors and out into the hallway.

"What the hell is going on?!" Aleina demanded.

"Just what I told you!" R.R. answered, as he ran outside and into the chaos in the streets.

People were running frantically every which way, trying to escape the the devastation. That of course, was impossible. He did see some people taking advantage of the confusion. There were always people like that it seemed.

"Okay, what are we doing?!" She asked again.

"Going to the source. If we stop the threat before it starts, Gideon won't have an excuse to sizes control of the UFN. Not only that, but we might find something to implicate him in all this."

After a few moments, they came across the blast zone. The memories of the first FLEIJA flashed through his head as Lelouch stared over the gaping crater where a city used to be. Yes, this was the pinnacle of his generation, an era that should be long forgotten. A time of pure unadulterated destruction. Why on earth would anyone want that?!

"Well, this is a problem." He stated.

The crater was directly between him and the origin point. And as he guessed, the launching station was mobile, and wouldn't be there very long.

He glanced back at the map he was holding, after a few seconds he realized where they were. He grinned.

Aleina was so fixed on the massive crater that just appeared that she nearly missed R.R. running off without her. She ran after him, catching up pretty quickly. He wasn't that fast. But she became confused as he made his way down into the subways.

"Where are you going?" She asked, jogging beside him now.

"I know a place where we might find something to help us." He answered.

As it happened, their current location was directly above an emergency hangar he had set up years ago. Sure, anything down there was probably in severe disrepair, but still relatively untouched. After a couple turnarounds, he finally came to the secure doors leading to the hangar. Lelouch punched in a code and the doors reluctantly opened with a painful grinding. The two rushed inside to find a single solitary knightmare. It seemed the hangar had been mostly dried up of its contents, but one Vincent Ward was still present.

"It only seats one, so we'll have to cram." He mentioned.

"Can you even pilot the thing?!" Aleina questioned.

"Yeah, been a while though. You might want to hold on really, really tight." He joked.

"You got to be kidding me." She whispered.

"Well, hurry up then. Haven't got all day." R.R. said while opening the cockpit and climbing inside. Aleina hesitantly followed, stopping just outside of it.

R.R. looked up at her. "Come on. There's plenty of room. I was just kidding."

She gave out a sigh, and climbed in. This seemed like a really bad idea.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

He lied. There was absolutely no room at all.

Aleina sat crammed behind the seat as R.R. piloted the old knightmare. She was scared to death the ancient relic would just suddenly drop out of the sky, but to her surprise, it stayed afloat. Long enough to see just what they were going toward.

A massive airship loomed over the city, it's imposing nature made her shiver. Was it the source of the FLEIJAs? Where on earth did they get the thing?

A beeping sound alerted her and she struggled to see what was the cause.

"Should have figured that would happen." R.R. remarked.

"Figured what?" She asked.

"Missiles. The airship is armed." He stated.

"Get ready for some fun!"

Her stomach dropped at that. A few seconds later, R.R. jerked the knightmare one way, avoiding the oncoming missiles, then the other, missing the second wave. Aleina felt like puking back there as the missiles kept coming and R.R. kept dodging them. She was never doing this again.

They did however, manage to approach the airship, just in time for the short range weapons to pitch in on their destruction. The old frame was no match for the guns and multiple rounds tore into the limbs and took off the head before they crashed into the deck.

Aleina had the worst headache.

"Are you okay?" She heard R.R. ask.

"Yeah." She mumbled.

"Good, I'm opening the hatch."

She nearly fell out as the wall she was resting against gave way. She stumbled out and R.R. followed behind.

"Come on." He urged. "There will be guards coming to inspect any second."

He pulled the ejection lever, diving out of the cockpit as it launched off away from the airship. Hopefully, they'll think the pilot escaped, and won't find them still here.

The two ran and his behind some crates on the deck and watched as those said guards rushed out onto the deck, surrounding the crumpled heap smoldering against a wall. They shouted and ran over to the side, hopefully looking for the pod. One spotted it floating down to the city below on its parachutes. Aleina winced as it was immediately shot out of the sky.

The guards rushed back inside and after judging it was safe, R.R. Emerged from behind the crates and made his way inside with Aleina as well.

"Where are we going?" Aleina whispered as the two crept down the halls, their eyes on the lookout for any hostiles.

"To the bridge, we're gonna take the whole damn airship down."

"And where's that?" She asked.

He paused a moment. "That way?"

She sighed. "Seriously? Should we stop and ask someone?"

"Well, what do we have here?"

Aleina jumped at the voice, and whipped around to confront the source. What she saw made her face pale.

Britannian royal guards. And in front, the captain of the royal guard. Here, on a terrorist warship.

"Flauvious." She managed.

"Princess, I am so glad to had found you, the emperor sent us here to locate you when he found you went missing."

For a moment, she allowed her spirit to raise, but it was a mistake.

"Oh, cut the bullshit." R.R. spoke up.

Flauvious looked at him. "Whatever do you mean?"

"I'm assuming your the middleman? Here to ensure the Phoenix order does what it's master bids?"

He raised an eyebrow. "So, you know that much?" He sighed, raising his gun, the rest of the guard doing the same. "Truly regrettable."

R.R. chuckled. "Well, this is bad, isn't it?"

"I am truly sorry princess, but no one can know Britannia was involved, not even you. I am only doing as I was ordered." He cocked the gun, pointing it at her head.

She took a step back, fear over taking her. Was this really how it would end? Was she really going to die here? Without doing anything? She was just that weak, unable to do anything. Depending on others to save her because she couldn't do anything herself. That's who she was.

Worthless.

"I am sorry, princess."

"NO!"

Just as the gun was fired, R.R. leapt into the line of sight, standing between the gun and Aleina. The bullet hit straight into his forehead, and he collapsed.

Aleina froze, once again helpless, only now alone as well.

Flauvious stood shocked. "It seems your friend thought he could stop a bullet. What foolishness could that be?"

He shrugged it off. "But, my part is done, it is over my princess."

His words were lost to her, she stood paralyzed, fear gripping her completely. She couldn't even look death in the eye it seemed, that's how weak she was.

In the end, she couldn't do anything.

Why couldn't she do anything?!

And the all of a sudden, everything changed, and the world seemed to stop.

 _"You don't want it to end here do you?"_

R.R.?

 _"It seems you have a reason to live. You truly do desire the power to change fate. You are very much like I was. If I give you that power, will you be able to go on? Will you be able to do what ever it takes to see the end take place? Though I must warn you, this power does not come without consequence. The power of the king will condemn you to a life of solitude. That I can say with certainty. You will live life apart from those around you. A different provenance, a different time, a different life._

 _"Are you prepared for this, are you willing to accept this power, and it's consequences, however severe?"_

Her answer was certain before he even finished. All her life she felt like she was weak and useless,. She wanted nothing more then to change things herself. So of course...

 _"Yes! I accept the terms of your contract!"_

And with that, the world resumed, as if nothing had happened.

She looked up, staring Flauvious in the eye.

"Yes, you are right." She began. "Your job is finished. I herby relieve you from duty."

She raised her hand, a look of menace beginning to surface for the first time on her once innocent face.

"Aleina Et Britannia commands you!"

His consciousness slowly returning to him, Lelouch suddenly bolted awake. The realization of what was happening dawning on him. That was impossible. It just simply couldn't happen, and yet...

"DIE!"

It made sense. After all, you can't change the world without getting your hands dirty.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **So yeah, Aleina has the power of absolute obedience. And no, I'm not being lazy, another Geass character will show up with a completely unique ability. This will make sense later hopefully. If I continue with what I have planned. Until next time!**


	4. The bitter truth

**R.R.**

 **Chapter 4: The Bitter Truth**

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At first he was terrified. But as it went on, his anxiety began to wear down. As it appeared, it wasn't the same power, just similar. He had to admit, it still baffled him as to why her Geass would fall under the same 'category' as his own. Is that what he would call it? A category? Geass was different between two people, an extension of themselves basically. Her power had different limits and restrictions then his, as he discovered before they escaped the airship. She was not restricted to how many times she could use it on someone, but her commands were reduced to once every fifteen minutes. And they wore off after three hours. However, she could 'renew' a command by reissuing because of the limitless uses. Even still, he couldn't put it away. Why would it be so similar?

He sat at a desk, furiously tapping on it. As it seemed, he was dead on with Gideon's plan. Shortly after the chaos with the two FLEIJA warheads in Japan, the emperor brought together the UFN, calling together a retaliation. And as planned, they all rallied behind him. At the moment, he merely pulled together the Black Knights and began producing knightmares. But soon, he knew Gideon would influence them to allow FLEIJA production. And then, all hell would break lose. It was really only a matter of time. His plan to seat away the Phoenix order before it became a threat failed, at least for now. There was still the possibility he could end the conflict before Gideon could obtain the right to use FLEIJAs. But that still didn't guarantee he would try something else. He had to find a way to stop Gideon indefinitely.

Behind him, Aleina sat at the vanity obsessively staring at the glowing mark in her left eye. The mark of Geass.

"Would you stop that?" He asked, turning around to face her.

She glanced back at him momentarily before returning back to the fascinating mirror. "Stop coming back to life after getting shot in the head."

"I already explained, Geass manifests its physical form through the appearance of a bird like sigil in the users eye. Like mine." Lelouch parted his hair to reveal the symbol emblazoning his forehead.

"It's given by immortals who possess a code. That code gives them immortality and the ability to grant Geass power to others. Can't get much simpler then that."

Aleina sighed, turning away from the mirror. "I thought it weird when I first found you. And your apparent lack of common knowledge was strange as well, but this, this is something else entirely. I mean, it's impossible. You're immortal, and I can command people to do anything I want."

Lelouch spun around in his spinny chair, looking up at the ceiling. "Yup. It's all very shocking. But lets not dwell too long on the subject. We have more pressing matter to attend to."

Lelouch turned back to the desk, opening his computer. "The UFN leaders are doing everything they can to prevent a large scale conflict, but after a stunt like that, everyone knows things can only end one way. Eventually, a war will ensue. And Gideon will end up on top of it all in the end."

Aleina walked over to him to see what it was he was looking at. She read over the reports on the emergency UFN council among the core members. Things didn't look good.

"Listen, this is important. Is there any on there members of the royal family who can help us? Any who might think the same way you do?" R.R. asked.

Aleina frowned. "Well, I guess there's my brother Daedalus. He's the second prince. He's always been suspicious of Gideon I suppose. I bet he might know as much as we do at this point."

R.R. nodded. "Anyone else?"

"Marellia. If we showed her solid proof about Gideon, she would listen."

"Alright, well we should go meet them then."

"You...want to meet two members of the royal family just like that? You obviously don't know Britannian royalty."

"Let me guess, ones on a safari in Africa and the others out feeding homeless in Asia. You have a jet that can get half way around the world in less then an hour. How hard is it?"

Aleina folded her arms, frowning. "It's not like that. I mean, you can't just go up to them and say 'hey I want to talk to you.' It doesn't work like that."

R.R. tilted his head. "Last I checked, I could go up to my sister whenever I wanted to."

Aleina glared at him. "It's not that easy. I'd have to call them and ask when they're available. And I'm sure with all the shit going around its going to be even more difficult. Seriously, is it that important?"

R.R. nodded. "Yes. Both in the long-term, and immediately. If I remember, Marellia and Gideon have close ties correct?"

Aleina frowned. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Good. Them lets go talk to her first. I want to make a request."

Aleina threw her arms up as she chased R.R. out of the room. "Fist you want to meet royalty, and now your going to make demands?! How stupid are you?!"

Lelouch chuckled to himself. "Oh, I'm very used to getting what I want. This is nothing."

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Lelouch made his way through to the UFN council building in Britannia. Other then the emperor himself, Marellia was the UFN representative of Britannia. Thus, his neat bet of immediately finding her would be to go there.

Aleina tailed closely behind him, and for the first time, he found himself not the one trying to catch up to someone. He grinned at that, and started to pick up the pace toward the towering building in front of him.

The actual building was very gravely guarded, and he had difficulty getting inside. He had to use Aleina as a way to get inside. Apparently they didn't take the incident in Japan lightly. He even saw a few shiny new knightmares scattered around the perimeter.

"I checked the attendance records, it seems Marellia is currently inside the UFN building." Aleina told him as she caugh up.

Lelouch nodded. "I figured. She's probably been here ever since this whole thing started. I know what that's like. Not very fun." He shuddered at the thought as he entered an elevator.

"Where are we going?" Aleina asked him as the began to ascend.

"To Marellia's private office." He answered.

"Seriously?! You can't just do that!" Aleina groaned.

"I can't just fool around here. Things have to get done. That's the one thing you need to learn. Far more time is spent deciding what to do then ever spent acting. That's why I succeed. Because I act."

Aleina sighed. "Fine. But don't blame me if you get arrested."

A ding signified they had arrived on their floor, and Lelouch stepped out and headed toward the proper door. The two guards backed off once they recognized Aleina, and allowed them to pass through. Lelouch was about to open the door when Aleina stopped him. "Let me." She swatted him away and knocked on the door.

"Sister? It's Aleina."

Some noise could be heard from the otherwise as someone moved. "Aleina? What is it?"

"I have something to ask you."

And a second Marellia answered. "Alright, you can come in."

Aleina opened the door and stepped into the office. She turned back to R.R. and nodded at him. He stepped in after and Marellia frowned as she saw him.

Lelouch took a look at the first princess of Britannia. She had long chestnut hair and priercing blue eyes, albeit tired. She wore a very formal dress, more like a business suit, but still fitting of a princess in its fashion. She looked at him with a hostile gaze that he had yet to see in anyone since Cornelia. Thus, he immediately associated her with the woman. After doing so, he couldn't help but detect even more similarities.

"Sister, this is my accomplice, R.R. He has something to ask you in person." Aleina introduced you.

Marellia sighed. "Aleina, can this wait? I'm very busy, maybe when this all clears up I can-"

Lelouch jumped in, interrupting her.

"See, that's why I'm here. I have very important information regarding the Phoeonix order and this while ordeal."

Marellia turned toward him, overlooking the interruption by what she had just heard.

"Really? I've heard hundreds of informants give me useless nonsense already, what makes yours so different you had to use my sister to come directly to me?"

Lelouch had to suppress a smile. There's always a Cornelia it would seem.

"Mine is first hand knowledge. I'm quite sure your other informants didn't board the Phoenix Order's airship flying above Tokyo during the FLEIJA bombing."

"Marellia frowned. "There was no airship above Tokyo. The satellites detected nothing."

Lelouch chuckled. "Have you not heard of cloaking technology? Very popular these days."

He produced a few pieces of paper and placed them on the princess's desk.

"These are plot coordinates received from a ground uplink before the second warhead destroyed it. They pinpoint the origin location of the FLEIJA to be six thousand feet above the surface."

Marellia looked over the papers, concluding their accuracy. "How did you get these?" She asked.

"If you need more proof, I have this as well." He placed a picture taken from the Vincent of the airship hovering over the city. " I guarantee its authenticity."

He glanced around as a particular item caught his eye. "Oh, chess! I do love the game, do you play?"

Marellia looked over toward the board sitting at a table in the corner. "I've never lost a game."

Lelouch grinned devishly. Aleina recognized it as the same face she saw the time she met him.

"You know by saying that you've subjected yourself to a challenge."

Marellia looked away from the pages he'd given her to look at R.R. "Is that so?" She smiled. "Tell you what, if you win, I'll listen to what you have to say." She extended a hand over the desk. Lelouch took it. "Sounds like a deal."

As the princess stood up to walk toward the table, Aleina grabbed R.R.'s arm.

"What are you doing?! Betting away your chance for her to help us on a game? You can't beat her! She wasn't kidding when she said that!"

Lelouch's laughed. "I've played against many an undefeated foe. They all have new titles."

Lelouch sat down at the table, facing Marellia. He was given the choice to choose sides, and selected the black king.

As the game game began, Lelouch attempted to procure information about Gideon's current movements in order to gain an upper hand against him.

"So I'd imagine you've been here ever since the Phoenix Order attacked."

The princess sighed. "Unfortunately. As the Britannian representative, I have to be present for all the meetings and decisions, as well as assist my brother."

"I see. I've been rarer busy as well, though I'm lucky I don't have the responsibility that you do. It must be very strenuous."

Marellia nodded. "None of us are used to issues like this. It's only a matter of time before war breaks out, they've even begun to talk about allowing FLEIJAs to be used against them."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. Things were moving faster then he anticipated.

Marellia frowned at Lelouch's move, baffled at the idea. "You move your king?"

Lelouch smiled. "If you do not lead, how can you expect others to follow?"

Marellia laughed. "You are quite strange."

"Aren't we all in a way?"

The game moved on for a while on silence, before Lelouch spoke up again.

"There is one other thing I should tell you, about the airship."

Marellia looked up at him.

"I ran into the Britannian royal guard."

Marellia's eyes widened. "What?!"

"While I was exploring the ship, I was caught by a group of Britannians led by one Flauvious Escarmot."

"Flauvious, he's been missing ever since the insistent first occurred." Marellia stated, confused.

"That's because he's dead."

"That's impossible! How dare you accuse Britannia of such-"

"Sister." Aleina spoke up. "It's true. I was there as well."

Marellia seemed to visibly melt. "What?"

"We believe Britannia, specifically it's emperor, are directly fabricating this war in order to gain possession of FlEIJA warheads in order to use them to, in short, take over the world." Lelouch explained.

Marellia stood still with her mouth hanging open. "You, you can't be serious." She whispered.

"Also." She watched as he picked up the queen and moved it across the board.

"Checkmate."

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	5. Invasion

**R.R.**

 **So here we will find Lelouch kick ass. And a new character shall emerge. I think I want to start one of two new stories soon. But which to choose? Guess you have to find out.**

 **Chapter 5: Invasion**

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"I-I don't understand..."

Lelouch looked away from the game at the blank slated Marellia.

"What? That the emperor of Britannia is evil, or that you just lost?" Lelouch joked.

Aleina rolled her eyes and shoved him aside.

"Look, Mariella." She got down in front of her seated sister and looked her in the eye. "I happened to discover some weird things about our brother. I enlisted R.R. to help me solve them. As a result, he quickly uncovered Gideon's plot."

Aleina gently grabbed her shoulders. "Marellia. This is serious. Gideon is a threat. And he's already setting his plan into motion. We have to do something, and we are asking for your help. So please, will you help us?"

Mariella seemed to finally collect herself. She sighed. "You have my attention R.R."

R.R. nodded. "Right well, as I stated, Gideon has set a plan to take over the world. However, this is not some absurd fantasy. He has a very detailed and legitimate scheme to do so. As we confirmed aboard the airship, Britannia is definitely involved in the Phoenix Order. The reason for this is that Gideon himself had a hand in its creation, for the reason to battle it."

"He can use the Phoenix Order as a way to assert himself as the head of the UFN. But once he defeats them..." Mariella realized.

"He has no intention of relieving that position." R.R. finished. "Like I explained to Aleina, this world is very accustomed to peace. The Phoenix Order is threatening to disrupt that. The world will jump at anything that offers a solution, without hesitation."

Marellia frowned. "I see. But then what can we do?"

"Well, my initial plan was to eliminate the Phoenix order before Gideon could usurp the UFN. But it seems things are already getting out of hand. Regardless, the issue regarding the Phoenix order must be dealt with before it escalates to an all out war. At that point things may be past the point of return."

Marellia nodded. "But either way, even if we can quell the war, Gideon will remain a threat. With ambitions like those, he will stop at nothing. Simply foiling one plan will not put him to rest."

R.R. Sighed, looking down at the chess board still lying out. "Yes, unfortunately. The only option is to eliminate him as well."

Aleina gasped. "Kill him?! We don't have to do that, do we?!"

Marellia smiled sadly at her sister. "I don't expect you to understand, but even I can see some things, or people, are just too great a threat to leave alone. No matter how much you wish it wasn't so."

R.R. Nodded. "You are correct, perhaps we are not so foolish as my initial assessment dictated."

Marellia raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.

"That aside. I have an idea of how to combat out opponent, and I will need a few things taken care of, the first we can do right now: tell me all you know about the leader of the Phoenix order." R.R. asked Marellia.

She nodded, and produced a small glass panel that acted as a phone. "Yes, that would be wise." She set the phone down on front of him, a picture of the man displayed on the glass surface.

"Claudius is the head of a company that manufactures cars and other machines. However, they initially produced knightmares before they were banned. It explains how he was able to construct so many without us noticing."

R.R. Flipped through the phone, reading pages of information regarding the company's statistics and materials consumption. "Wouldn't the Supervisors see materials making the frames were disappearing?" He asked.

"You would think. It led us to believe they were bribed, or knew what the company was doing. Unfortunately, they have all disappeared, so we have no way to confirm that."

"So there is no way to determine the enemy's strength." R.R. Asked.

"No, not that we know of. Almost every figure is falsified." Marellia confirmed.

R.R. frowned, scratching his head. "Most unfortunate. I have no idea what kind of effort I will have to make in order to defeat them. Though with the right circumstances I know that numbers will have no significance. No, what matters is quality."

"Yes, I've heard stories." Marellia began. "Of a single knightmare wiping out hundreds in mere seconds."

"The Lancelot Albion, the Guren eight elements. The pinnacle of the industry. Top of the line." R.R. ranted.

"Impossible to pilot."

He sighed, picking up the black king and spinning it in his hand. "All it takes is one gifted pilot. And the war is one."

"Well, it is mandatory for knights of the round to be trained in knightmare combat no matter the circumstances. They've all scores above ninety in the tests." Marellia stated.

R.R. laughed. "Pilots like Suzaku Kururgi, and Kallen Kozuki; tests like those were not capable of gaging their skill. What we need is to find someone who can pilot such a machine, and to develop one as soon as we can. Then we can dominate both the Phoenix Order, and Britannia."

"How do we do that?"

He smiled. "Luck."

Marellia frowned. And shook her head. "What on earth have I gotten myself in to?"

R.R. tilted his head, furrowing his brow. "Unless...there is a small chance,"

Marellia looked at him. "Chance of what?"

"Well, to be honest...-"

He couldn't finish. Because no sooner did a blinding flash, and a massive quake followed.

Marellia bolted upright, rushing to the window and opening the curtain. What she revealed was nothing short of chaos

"Shit!" She exclaimed, staring at the growing black hole that suddenly appeared along the city scape.

"A FLEIJA?" Aleina asked, stunned.

As the blast disappeared, the city itself began to flicker off, and the room as well.

"The power went off?" Marellia wondered.

"No!" R.R. yelled, getting up to see the city."

"What?"

"Isn't it obvious?!" R.R. responded. "Deploy everything you have!"

Marellia blinked. "We hardly have any defenses in Pendragon."

R.R. turned to her, a dark look on his face. "Everything!"

She nodded, scrambling for her phone. She quickly dialed a number and immediately began relaying instruction.

"Because the power is out we can only deploy a third of available knightmares." She told him.

R.R. whipped around and headed toward the door. "Give them to me." He commanded in a forceful tone. Marellia was taken aback by his powerful demeanor. "I can get you in contact with the commander of the defense force."

"Good. You find Gideon, and inform me of whatever he is planning to do, let him know what is happening if necessary. I do not know if he has complete control over the Phoenix order." He glanced at Aleina, who hurried to catch up to him. "You are coming with me." She nodded, following him down the hall.

"Captain Tsandris, this is princess Marellia, I am formally transferring command of your unit to a man you will call R.R. You are to follow his command."

An affirmative came from the other end, and Marellia handed R.R. a headset.

"I can trust you to handle this?" She asked

R.R. nodded, smirking. "Of course."

Lelouch took the headset as the group separated. He had a pretty good idea of how to accomplish this mission, but first, the tasks at hand had to be completed.

"Captain Tsandris." He called on the headset."

"Yes?" The man responded.

"I am R.R. You are to follow my every order, and I guarantee your success. How many knightmares do you have?"

"Fourteen operational frames sir."

"It will do. Assign them codes O through P followed a by numeral evenly. Then have all frames move to the UFN headquarters."

"Confirmed."

He would leave that task to the captain for now. As for himself, he would secure an essential asset to his victory. As he and Aleina exited the building, he quickly found the Phoenix order had swiftly and efficiently swept through the streets, causing mayhem and destruction in their wake. He had to hand it to them, their efficiency was something to be admired. Nevertheless, it would not be long before their time was up.

He waited patiently for his opportunity to arrive, and after a few moments, the awaited knightmare frame came barreling through the streets, rampaging on and gunning down everything. The strategy they were using was a very well thought out one. Disable the opponents power, then spread out and destroy everything in sight as quickly as physically possible. Even still, there were drawbacks, ones Lelouch wouldn't hesitate to exploit.

Unlike him however, Aleina was not immortal, and apparently didn't see the need to take cover from the assaulting frame. Lelouch quickly stepped between her and the knightmare before taking a bullet to the chest. He gasped in pain; no matter how many times dying and pain still held strong to their grip.

As he struggled to stand against the bullet hole, he shouted at the knightmare that would soon pass him by. "Wait! I have information for Claudius regarding the preliminary sabotage!"

The frame stopped, having heard his claim. "I have heard of no such thing." The pilot stated.

Lelouch smirked. Of course not. But he didn't need to prove it, just get the pilot in eyesight.

"I can show you my credentials. It is essential this information is received by Claudius.

After a moment the pilot spoke. "Very well."

As the hatch opened Lelouch tuned to Aleina. "Would you kindly ask this gentleman for his knightmare?"

She nodded. "Right." Aleina looked at the emerging pilot. "Give me your knightmare."

As expected, the pilot did not question.

"Of course. The code is A45V1."

The pilot stepped down and handed her the key, which she gave to R.R. He took it, ten promptly shot the pilot in the head. Under normal circumstances, he would have allowed the pilot to live, but in three hours he would regain his will. And more than likely report his knightmare stolen, where would they be after that? He also to the measures to hide the body before embarking the knightmare. It was a frame entirely foreign to him, called an Evalyn. Regardless, the fundamental basics remained unchanged, and within moments, he had the controls figured out.

"Sir, I have the guard postioned and organized as you commanded, awaiting orders." He heard from Tsandris, as he looked over the IFF map showing the locations of each Phoenix Order Evalyn frame.

"Understood. Begin operation."

He didn't have the IFFs of his own knightmares, but that was only a minor issue. This was playing out too much like Shunjuku. And that would only benefit him in the end.

"P-1, P-2, move to area seven and take out the knightmare frame on tenth street facing east, approach from west."

"Q-3, approach the three frames on third them retreat to O-1 and 2's parallel. O-1 and 2, shoot them through the wall."

He couldn't resist using that trick.

"P-1, fire havoc missiles thirty degrees left, Q-2, head north one hundred feet then wait five seconds before deploying a chaos mine."

Unlike Shinjuku, these trained soldiers carried out orders efficiently and without question. Any unvoiced doubt was quickly erased soon after the fighting began.

Lelouch was wrong. This would be easier then Shinjuku. Far easier.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

At first he felt fear, as the massive black hole filled the sky. He felt only dread at the deathly sight before his eyes. And when those around him scrambled to react, he himself felt empty and dull as he climbed into the Vincent's cockpit. He heard the order given by Captain Tsandris to deploy. Only fourteen knightmares. Against eighty-four confirmed enemy frames. What was he doing? Still, the emptiness he felt and the numb feeling he had dulled his senses. He only did as he was ordered, only vaguely aware of his surroundings. It had taken him a full ten minutes before he realized the voice giving orders was not that of captain Tsandris. He frowned, the man was unfamiliar, but spoke with authority, and confidence that seemed to seep into him.

"Confirmed hit." One of his allies had reported.

How long had it been since the fighting began? Thirty minutes? Not one of his friends IFFs were lost.

"We're...winning?" He whispered to himself.

He had been given the code Q-1 by the voice called R.R. And had been diligently following orders as the battle went on. The further it went the more his confidence built up. The numb dread he felt was nearly gone as his squadron had confirmed fifty nine kills.

He grinned. The battle was swinging more and more in their favor. In only a few minutes the last of them would be wiped out, and the mission complete.

"Q-1, fire slash harkens to your left!" He heard. "Yes sir!"

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Lelouch was satisfied. Things were going more than satisfactory. He had to thank the efficiency of his team. Their flawless performance was more than helpful. He knew that the performance of his subordinates was crucial; he learned that at Saitama. So he was grateful that the well trained soldiers were not as inexperienced as to prove useless.

Only twenty six targets were left when he received word that Gideon arrived with reinforcements. Although t was obviously not needed, he acted thankful anyway. Expressing his gratitude to the emperor for his swift reaction. There was one particular pilot he noticed, his Q-1. He was more then jus a good pilot, as he quickly performed his orders, and eliminated twelve frames on his own. Lelouch wondered if he had already found what it was he was looking for.

As he walked down the halls toward the throne room where he had been summoned, Aleina in tow, his mind had just finished deciphering a few clues left for him. Looks like Gideon left a little too much. He thought. The information he learned would prove useful.

The doors were opened, and R.R. entered the Britannian throne room for the first time in one hundred and seven years.

"So this is the brilliant mastermind I've heard so much about." The emperor announced as R.R. dropped to one knee. He wasn't about to get on the emperor's bad side just yet.

"I am R.R. your highness. I was instructed by princess Marellia to take command of the Pendragon defenses during the Phoenix Order's invasion."

Gideon nodded. "Yes, my sister told me as much. Although, if I remember, I met you once at the Aries palace. Is that correct?"

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. He has a good memory. "Yes your highness. The day I arrived here."

"I see. I must say, you have done me a great service today R.R. If it wasn't for you, I do. Not believe Pendragon would be in the state it is in now, nor would our fourteen pilots still be around to tell of their victory." Gideon congratulated him, a bemused smile on his face.

"How would you like to be given a formal position amounts my officers? I can guarantee that your skill will not go unnoticed. Perhaps you will find yourself in command of more than just fourteen knightmare pilots."

R.R. looked up. "I am honored by your gracious offer your highness, but I am afraid I cannot accept. With the Phoenix Order as aggressive as it has made itself to be, I believe I will find myself in a more difficult position then I would like. I was only merely there at the time. I do not believe I can afford the time." Lelouch smiled. This obviously proved that Gideoon held no suspicion. Well, it was more probable then him wanting to keep an eye on him. But a man like Gideon wouldn't dare put an enemy in such a dangerous position to himself. Regardless of that. He was not lying, he was ninety five percent certain his pilot was found, and eighty percent certain another beneficiary could be unearthed within the week. He had no need for such a position.

"A shame. Perhaps one day we can meet again R.R. I would be more than glad to give you anything you may request."

Lelouch shook his head. "There is no need. Thank you either way."

Lelouch stood up, and departed the throne room. Time was if the essence here.

Aleina, let me ask you something." He started. She looked at him.

"What have we learned today? There are several things."

Aleina frowned, thinking about it as they moved to wherever R.R. was heading. "Well, first thing, this shows the Phoenix order has the capability to infiltrate any location, as they attacked pendragon itself. They possessed a new frame which means they actually know how to build knightmares, rather than look at a picture. That being said, they possess multiple frames, how many, I'm not sure though."

R.R. nodded. "Good. But there's something else, far more important."

Aleina thought about it, looking over the days events. "I don't know."

"We learned something very valuable. That being related to the FLEIJAs. You see, the Phoenix Order's plan was to launch a FLEIJA at the pendragon power plant, then subsequently launch a ground invasion with knightmares while the ground forces were unable to react. Very good plan, but given the circumstances, it gives away a very crucial component. You see, they only launched one FLEIJA, and in such a way that it would prove its effectiveness as much as possible. This leads me to believe that the Phoenix Order does not have as much warheads as they would like us believe. And given the time between attacks, they're not waiting for more to come. Thus, the Phoenix Order has a limited supply of FLEIJA warheads, and no way to produce more. And lastly, whoever gave them to the Phoenix Order gave then the real thing, not just blue prints. Which means we can assume they possess some as well."

Aleina just stared at him. "Right."

R.R. opened the door to the hangar, where the pilots he had commanded earlier were all located. He found captain Tsandris, and approached him. "Captain!" He called. The man turned, recognizing his voice. "You must be R.R." He said.

"Yes. I must thank you in person for you and your men's effort today. I could not do it without you." Lelouch congratulated him.

"Oh, it was nothing. We would all be dead without you assistance. It is I who must thank you." Tsandris replied.

"There is no need. Although, I did want to know, which was was called Q-1? I wanted to see something." Lelouch mentioned.

Tsandris nodded. "Yes, that would be Isaac over there." He pointed toward a kid who was sitting alone near his knightmare." Lelouch thanked him.

He took note of the kid's bright red hair that frayed out wildly, and his deep green eyes that stood out as a dominant feature.

"You must be my Q-1." Lelouch began.

The kid bolted up. "Your voice. Your R.R. right?!"

"Y-yes. No need to act so hyper." Lelouch grinned. Isaac took his hand and shook it ecstatically. "Thank you so much for helping us! My name is Isaac Stadfelt sir!"

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. Inwardly his was laughing his head off. The connections were so similar. And to think he was Q-1 off all possibilities.

"A pleasure Isaac Stadfelt." Lelouch said.

"Say, how would you be interested in a private position?"

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	6. The next step

**R.R.**

 **Why does everyone care who Kallen married?! Honestly, it wasn't that important to me...but I guess if you guys care so much, who should it be?**

 **Guest: thanks for pointing that out!**

 **Game777guy: now that I think about it, your totally right. Glad you told me, I probably wouldn't have noticed it myself!**

 **Sunsetdawn420: thanks! I have no problem with that. Go ahead!**

 **Chapter six: the next step**

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"So that's how things stand then?"

Lelouch nodded to the aging man in front of him. "I believe my team has nearly been assembled. Although that is only the first task."

Prime minister Gottwald took a sip of water from the cup on his desk he was sitting at. "Of course. But either way, it's rather fortunate you were able to find that Stadfelt kid so soon. I won't argue that prodigies were of absolute value back in the day."

Lelouch laughed. "It almost wasn't fair. Battles were once fought with tactical prowess, strategic genius, and the powerful determination and loyalty of the common soldier. In the end it devolved into a giant robot dick-measuring contest."

Jeremiah couldn't help but chuckle at the ex-emperor's crude humor.

"Nevertheless, I will not hesitate to obtain my means of victory as soon as I possibly can."

Jeremiah nodded at that. "And I agree, the best option is to dominate this one sided battlefield and erase the chance the emperor has of being given access to FLEIJAs to end the war as soon as possible."

Lelouch frowned suddenly, appearing deep in thought. "But then again, such a threat like it might just push the UFN to authorize it even sooner."

He raised a finger, as if he had a solution. "Perhaps there is another option. Jeremiah, have you managed to come up with anything regarding what I asked you yesterday?"

The old man nodded sharply, digging out a paper among the stack on the desk between them. "Yes of course, your highness."

Lelouch shook his head. "Please Jeremiah, there is no need to refer to me in such a way. You and I are long time accomplices, and friends. You speak of a time long since gone."

Jeremiah furrowed his brow in frustration. "I could not think of such a thing. You are and forever will be my lord and majesty. I would not dare speak to you otherwise. It simply would not be right." He quickly defended.

Lelouch smiled faintly. "I see you really haven't changed. In one hundred years your still the same man you were before. I'm grateful to have you by my side. You were an invaluable asset for me. I'm glad you are still alive and kicking after all this time."

The older man returned the smile. "Thank you. I will not disappoint you..." He hesitated a moment. "Lelouch."

"It's even nicer to have someone to talk to as myself. The name R.R. brings back ironic memories of that witch and I can't help but notice the similarities, and the uncanny desire for pizza is overwhelming." He tilted his head, a puzzled look in his face. "Speaking of, where has she been all this time?"

Jeremiah shrugged. "I've heard nothing of her in one hundred and six years. There was one interaction on the anniversary of your death, just a mere acknowledgment. I've never seen her since."

Lelouch frowned. "I see. I'm not really sure if I actually want to find her or not." He chuckled. "In not sure my allotted budget can afford the cost of her material consumption."

The two shared a laugh at the memory before Lelouch leaned in to see the paper that had been in front of him that whole time. "Anyway, about this..." He paused a moment to read over the information on the page. Jeremiah chimed in as well. "My resources are quite certain it's located there, Although they have no way of identifying or confirming it. But it's a safe assumption worth further investigation."

Lelouch nodded as he finished reading the paper. "I suppose there is the chance that it doesn't actually exist, but I am willing to bet it does. Rakshata would never have been able to let that thing remain unfinished. It would have been physically impossible, just as I know I couldn't resist finishing a game of chess I put off, but I'm guessing its a lot worse. Even with the ban placed in 2019, she would have completed it." He slid the paper forward, signaling he was done with it. Jeremiah took it and put it back on his stack." "I would certainly hope so." He added.

"I will go to that location myself, on the off chance that it is there. For the time being, I want you to gather whoever you can to build me a new frame for our pilot. In the event that we can't find my toy I want another option. It would prove beneficial to me either way, so there's no harm in it." Jeremiah nodded, and Lelouch stood up to leave. "I thank you for everything you are doing. You really are my most trusted ally."

"And I will remain ever loyal." Jeremiah returned.

Lelouch gave a genuine smile as he exited the prime minister's office.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Aleina stood alone in the Aries palace in Pendragon, looking through a window that gave her a pretty good view of the city itself, as well as all the damage caused just two days ago.

She began to worry about what was going to happen in the next few days. She had no doubt that at the rate things were progressing, it would be over sooner than she expected it to. R.R. had a plan, at least she hoped he did. He told her to stay here while he took care of a few things. Whatever that meant, she was pretty sure he was quite active in his plot against the emperor.

She wasn't exactly sure what to think of her enigmatic contractor. He was a strange one indeed. On more than one occasion, she had began to doubt his capability to save the world as it was plainly put. But at the same time, there were those moments, like during the invasion, when that ridiculous demeanor of his disappeared, and all that was left was a cold calculative genius who would not hesitate to eliminate anything standing in his way. It was that second personality she knew was capable of taking down Gideon. Times like that restored her faith in him.

They were few and far between, unfortunately.

She sighed, resting her head against her arms on the window sill.

"How on earth did this happen?" She whispered.

She heard a door open behind her, and someone approaching her from it.

"Aleina?"

She didn't turn around to see who it was, she knew the voice well enough. "Sister." She acknowledged.

"What are you doing here by yourself? Where's R.R.?" Marellia asked as she approached her younger sister.

"I don't know. Off somewhere I suppose." Aleina answered halfheartedly.

Marellia frowned as she came up to the window Aleina looked through. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Mmm." Aleina nodded in response.

Marellia put her arm around her sister in a hug. "I know this must be very hard for you. After all, you did love Gideon as much as you did." She suppressed a heavy breath at the thought. "And after everything that's been brought to light."

Aleina sighed, resting her head against Marellia. "At first it was. I was in denial that it could even be possible. But now, I don't think that's a problem anymore." Aleina looked directly at her sister's intense blue eyes. "But I'm not naive anymore. I will do anything I have to in order to stop him. I will protect our country from him."

Marellia smiled. "I'm glad for that. I must admit, just from the past few days, your not the same. Strangely enough, it worries me a bit, but I suppose that's just me being me. I'm glad your growing up Alejna. I'm sure your mother would be proud of you now."

Aleina looked down. "Yeah."

"Hey, don't worry. I don't usually say this about people, but R.R. deserves a lot more credit then he's given. From what I've seen, he is capable of handling what needs to be done. Wherever he is right now, he's getting something done. That man has a plan, I'm sure of it."

Aleina nodded. Marellia let go of Aleina and set her hands against the window sill, leaning on it. "I'll be here too. Whenever you need me. I'll be here."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Isaac sat alone in a waiting room in the UFN headquarters. He was told he was to wait here for someone to pick him up by his superior. He had no clue what was going on. He recalled what R.R. had told him earlier when he met the strange man. That he asked of he would be interested in a private position. At the time, it had confused Isaac. He wasn't sure what that meant in the slightest. Of course, if he could help R.R. in any way, he would not hesitate to do so. He owed him a debt, whether R.R. wanted it or not. He would do whatever he needed.

He ran a hand through his frayed hair, then sighed when it popped back up. He had half a mind to shave it off completely, it just refused to cooperate.

But as it stood. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He joined the military at his father's request, as a way to help pay for his mother's medicine. He had no problem doing it, he loved his mother well enough to fight for her. But his father was horrified at his request after the Phoenix Order emerged. He did everything in his power to get his son out of harms way. Perhaps that's why he was here, maybe his father got him out of the army.

He yawned, stretching out on the bench. Best to just wait for whoever was supposed to get him. He didn't wait long, as in a few minutes, a man in a white suit and black coat came in. "Isaac Stadfelt. How are you?"

Isaac looked up to see who had come. "Ah, R.R.!" He jumped up. "I didn't know you would come sir!" He saluted.

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. The way the kid acted around him exuded an obvious respect. One that could prove advantageous. "I've come to pick you up. You are being turned over to me at my request."

Isaac frowned. "What do you mean?"

R.R. Smiled. "Your going to work for me now."

If it were possible, Isaac saluted even more. "Sir!"

R.R. chuckled. "Settle down. No need to be so tense. I'm not even a real military commander, I hold not direct command over you, I just asked for your assistance."

Isaac let his hand down and relaxed himself. "Sorry, I won't let you down!"

Lelouch smiled. "Of course not."

 _No, you will be very useful indeed._

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Marellia strode her way toward the throne room with confidence. She had things to ask for her own sake of mind. She did not doubt R.R.'s claims, not just because Aleina firmly believed them as well, but because she was a woman of practicality. And the evidence pointed to one single option. Nevertheless, she wanted to get some answers of confirmation for herself. While she was at it, she could procure some information for R.R. as birds as it was.

The two guards saluted her as she passed through the doors to the Britannian throne room. She continued through the mostly empty room, it's vast hall causing an echo with every step as she approached her brother. She did not wear a face to intimidate anyone, but for whatever reason the few nobles present fled immediately.

Gideon turned to see his sister approaching him and turned to address her. "Sister, to what do I owe your visit?"

"Just a few things I need to discuss." Marellia answered as she reached the emperor. She stood on equal ground with him, only a few inches shorter then her elder brother. She waited a moment for the rest of the company to disperse before she continued. "Gideon, I'll be frank; what did you know about the Phoenix order before Claudious attacked?"

Gideon frowned, tilting his head. "What do you mean?"

"You were well associated with Claudious, it wouldn't make sense if you were completely unaware of his motives."

The emperor nodded. "I will admit, there were a few suspicious activities I noticed, and I am ashamed to say that I did not realize what they meant before it was too late."

He sat down in the throne just a step away. "Claudious is a deranged man. There was something about him I missed in these last three years since he rose to power. How he managed to get FLEIJAs, I have no idea."

Marellia knew full well how the Phoenix order obtained them, and now she thought she might have a way to learn for herself just what was going on. "Yes. And perhaps fighting fire with fire is our only option at this point. If the Phoenix order possesses the most powerful weapon we too must claim it." Marellia stated, preparing her trap.

"Unfortunately, you may be correct. Any day now the UFN will come to that conclusion as well. I fear that this will result in a fallout endangering the entire world. If only prince Schniezel had not hidden the blueprints, none if this would have happened."

Marellia tried not to gasp, her eyes widened slightly. He just said that. Clear as day he just said that. She didn't even have to get him to reveal himself. There was no doubt, but at the same time, why in the hell did Gideon just say that? But to keep her cover, she did not say anything about it.

"There is a storm coming." Gideon began, placing his hand on his head. "This is just the beginning of a long and bloody conflict, I can tell. The desperation of the UFN to end this will only cause to prolong the war. Someone will develop a way to counter the FLEIJA, and someone will develop a more powerful weapon. The cycle will repeat itself until the world itself falls to its knees."

Marellia was conflicted. Something about what Gideon just said shook her. If his claim held any ground, this was the beginning of the end. One hundred years of peace since the demon emperor Lelouch Vi Britannia, and the people destroy themselves.

Her thoughts were interrupted when someone came bursting into the room, panting heavily, the man approached the two. "My lord," he began. "The UFN has just approved the construction of FLEIJA warheads!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lelouch approached the seemingly abandoned warehouse. Deep in the heart of the Britannian homeland lay a secret that was more than capable of winning the war on its own. Of course, if it actually existed. He made his way toward the basements of the collapsing building, alone, he descended down into the long forgotten hallways and twisting corridors, using the indistinct directions those who had previously come here provided.

Eventually, he needed a flashlight to see through the darkness. Ultimately, he came to what where everyone else was stuck, the place where it was supposed to be held. The massive metal door reminded him of where he had been lying dormant for longer then what was behind them. Just like him it waited, waited for the inevitable. The long once forgotten waited until it would be needed.

Lelouch placed his hand on the sensor, then typed in a code. The perfectly preserved technology recognized his request. 'Access granted: Lelouch Vi Britannia.'

He grinned maniacally, watching the door unlock, and slide open. He walked inside, flashing his light back and forth into the room. After a couple seconds, he found it.

A silent chuckle escaped his lips.

This was it.

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	7. Final Preparations

**R.R.**

 **Game777guy: once again, I appreciate the pointers. I can see how that might be a problem. I shall fix it in the future.**

 **Ostkaka: I guess I was being so cryptic, it was hard to follow. The point was, the knightmare Rakshata was building, was not finished when Lelouch died. A ban was placed a few years later, as well as no need for knightmares at that point, it was entirely possible it was never finished. I'll explain how he got into it here, but basically his identification was accepted on an older piece of technology like a hangar that was built at the time he was still around. The hangar is located in Britannia, so everything at the time was accessible to him. His ID simply was not removed upon his death.**

 **KMF-G: okay...I'm not really sure what you mean. I literally do not understand half of your points. If you could clarify, that would be great. What mistakes? And it's a little hard to to take you seriously when your grammar is all skewed. It's UFN dude, and they haven't attacked anybody.**

 **Chapter Seven: Final Preparations**

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Isaac opened the door to his tiny apartment to be greeted by a pleasurable sight. As it appeared, his sister had prepared dinner for the two of them. The younger brunette was reading a book at the table with food on it while she waited. She looked up, noticing that Isaac had come home. She set her book down, happy to see her brother. "Ah, Onii-San. I was worried the food would get cold."

He smiled, sitting down to eat. Although their last name suggested a Britannian family origin, the closest Britannian blood they had came from their great grandmother. And she was only half Britannian. Since then, the Stadfelt name was a Japanese family. And his sister referred to him as such. The only reason he had a Britannian name, was an odd tradition to give children common Britannian surnames. It only happened because his great grandmother Kallen, a Britannian name, named her daughter Shirley. Apparently out of respect for someone she and his great grandfather knew. However, the older son was Isaac's grandfather. But the tradition still held.

"So how was you day Annie?" Isaac asked his sister.

She quickly swallowed the soup she had to answer the question. "Nothing really unusual at school. I guess that jerk James tried to replace my math assignment with a sheet of wrong answers."

Isaac shook his head. "That Cardemonde kid?" He remembered the little blonde doof when he went to Ashford last year. He dropped out upon joining the military. This would have been his senior year. It was remarkable, that a Britannian school managed to remain in Japan after it was liberated. It goes to show just how strong the bonds between Japan and Britannia are thanks to empress Nunnally and prime minister Oghi. Britannia is Japan's greatest ally.

"Yeah...he's always doing stupid stuff like that." Annie continued. "Mostly to me though."

Isaac smiled at his sister. "You know what that means right?"

Annie's frowned. "...no?" She tilted her head, trying to understand what he meant.

Isaac just shook his head. She was almost sixteen. He wouldn't mind allowing her a boyfriend. He did feel that it was his decision however. He almost felt more her father then brother. Their father was need around. His mother had been sick for over three years, and his father worked hard to provide medical expenses. He's been working overseas for just as long. So Isaac worked to provide for him and Annie, and she learned to cook in their mother's stead. They were self sufficient. Still, he one day hoped they could all be together again.

"So what about you?"

Isaac looked back up at Annie. She was almost finished eating, and had her head in her hands.

"Well," Isaac started. "Today I've been kind of transferred I suppose. I'm working with a, say talented individual on something." He wasn't sure he should mention R.R., or what he was actually doing. At least not to Annie.

"Ooh, that sounds interesting." She said, leaning in toward him.

"Yeah, I guess it might be. He seemed interested in my piloting skill." Isaac told her. R.R. had him perform numerous tests, and simulations to gauge his aptitude. And apparently he was above an acceptable level.

Annie grinned. "Someone is interested in your skill? So exciting." Isaac could tell yet she was trying to make fun of him, but he just shrugged.

"I guess I'm just talented."

She waved her arm at him. "Whatever. You could never do anything right."

This time, he gave in. "Hey! That's not true at all!"

Annie's grin became more devious as she pulled her brother into her trap. "Right, you don't need skills or anything to beat your sister in games. Or sports. Or school."

Isaac's face grew red. "You are not better then I am, stop acting like it!"

"Oh, but I am."

Isaac stood up in defiance, the table shaking by the sudden movement. "That's it! I'm not hearing any of this!"

He stormed off to his room, leaving a rather satisfied girl alone in the kitchen. He slammed the door behind him and flopped onto the bed.

Did he really just let her do that? He was better then that. Isaac let out a sigh, running his hands over his face. He had tried to forget what had happened today. But it was only inevitable that he would come to think about it. So sitting there, he slowly became overwhelmed in the thoughts of the past events.

Britannia was evil.

In all simplicity, the emperor He served was a manipulative liar. And one who was planning to seize control of the world.

He had no reason to doubt R.R.'s claims, and was inclined to believe them either way; but the evidence he was shown left no doubt in his mind. Gideon Ce Britannia had to be stopped. The entirety of the world depended on his ability to fight. R.R. had told him the time would soon come he would have to fight to defend the safety and peace of the world. A powerful weapon was to soon he given to him for that purpose. He wasn't sure if he felt special, or terrified. It was honestly just like out of a fictional story. Just a regular guy, pulled away from the safety of the normal to be made a hero. He could be a hero.

He reached up with his hand, as if to grasp something above him. This was certainly going to be dangerous. He knew that. Bit it didn't stop him from feeling the need to do something. He had been given the chance to do something. Maybe after it was all over, he could finally help his mother. He could bring his family back together again. His dad believed he was being transferred to some engineering devision. His family had no idea what he was going to soon do.

He closed his hand into a fist. "I'll make you proud father, mother. You too Annie. Maybe you'll stop calling me so weak."

He smiled. He was important, he was sure of it.

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"Hmm, yes this is quite interesting."

Lelouch watched the man circle around his little project, sizing it up. He had a narrow face and slim body. An unkempt mess of black hair atop his head. Edmond Cavlaire was a leading scientist and engineer in what you would call the field of 'robotics'. Specifically the big and lethal kind. Even after the serious attempt to shut down knightmare production and development, there were still a few people who learned the field, only out of curiosity of course.

"So it was developed by Rakshata Chawla you say? And it follows the original schematics fairly closely?" Edmond asked.

Lelouch nodded, following to the side of the Britannian scientist. "Yes. Although a lot of the designs and systems are significantly altered and upgraded, it's design is still roughly the same. Nothing like the Lancelot, as it originally was."

"Ah. Well, I can review the blueprints for the older model, and what you have for this one...give me a few days, and I can have it working again." He went over to the nearby table, where the few designs were located.

"Of course." Lelouch responded. "I'm grateful for your help."

Edmond nodded. "Yes yes. And there's no need to worry about anything. Quite frankly I don't care what you're planning to do with it, or where you even got it. I just want to the opportunity to study it...and of course, creat my own designs."

"Yes, once you have it repaired, I will give you resources and the proper personnel to create your own frame. I even have a pilot ready and waiting." Lelouch responded.

Edmond cracked a smile. "Good. I can hardly wait."

He rose from the desk and walked to the massive frame. "Well, better get started. The sooner it's complete the better!" He rubbed his hands together, grinning.

"Indeed. The moment it's finished, I would like to know."

"But of course."

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Aleina sat alone in a car to the Aries palace. She was supposed to meet Marellia, and possibly R.R. there in an hours time. Things had to be discussed regarding the UFN's hasty decision to approve FLEIJA assembly. Multiple warheads would be operable by the time the next confrontation arrived. Aleina herself was apprehensive. This was exactly what she feared would happen. She feared they were too late to stop Gideon. He now possessed the power he desired. He could use it however he wanted, the UFN foolishly made sure of that. She nervously turned on her computer and checked for any progress on the FLEIJA development. Maybe they could pull a last minute miracle and stop this before they could be used. But what were they even going to do? She had absolutely no idea for his they could end the conflict. The Phoenix Order was just too big a problem to wrap her head around. She only hoped she could put her faith in R.R. that he had a solution.

It made her feel so powerless. She was constantly relying on him, and even Marellia. She wasn't really doing anything herself. She so desperately wanted to help, but she didn't know how. The power R.R. had given her seemed to be of some help, but she wasn't sure what to do with it. She only did whatever R.R. told her to do with it.

No matter how hard she tried, she was simply useless.

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Gideon Ce Britannia looked out the window of the palace across the city of Pendragon. He was surprised how quickly the UFN approved FLEIJAs. He didn't expect them to act so foolishly. Such a decision should of had more though put into it. It frustrated him that he had to risk with such a lot of idiots. They followed him so blindly it was pathetic. All he needed to do was say: I've got a plan. And the entirety of the United Federation of Nations followed him like sheep.

Still though, he felt as if there was something missing. He wasn't sure what it was, but something was off. He was brought back to that man called R.R. Out of curiosity, he attempted to research the man. Of course, only initials, if that's even what it was, weren't much to go on; but nothing regarding the name R.R. existed.

His ability to lead and command was phenomenal. The man had a natural gift. He even heard Marellia mention he beat her in chess. Such an accomplishment was not to be taken lightly, even if it did seen that way.

R.R. was strange to say the least. But there was something more then that, Gideon could feel it. Something about R.R. was...dangerous.

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"So what are we supposed to do about this?" Marellia asked, in a demanding tone.

R.R. shook his head. "I expected something like this to happen. It's not that big of a concern right now. It only means my current solution will move along faster."

Aleina frowned. "Current solution?"

"Yes." R.R. nodded. "I have a plan to end this conflict. It might take a little more time and some planning, but pretty soon we can put it to action."

"Just what are you planning?" Marellia asked.

R.R. grinned. "You'll see. I am correct in saying that the UFN has located where the Phoenix Order's airship is hidden?"

Marellia nodded. "Yes, more or less."

"Good." R.R. answered. "Try to prolong the attack for a couple of days if you can. I'm sure the UFN will try to hurry and end this, but I could use some time if at all possible."

"I'm certain I could arrange it." Marellia responded.

"Good. You do that. Aleina, I'd like you to come with me. I'm going to need your help with a few things regarding my plan."

"Um, okay." Aleina hurried to follow R.R. out of the room. He certainly wasted no time.

R.R. flipped his phone on and dialed a number. "Orange." He spoke. "I'd like for you to bring the beta of the device to the hangar. I'm going to have Calvaire analyze it to make sure it works. I'm bringing Aleina along with me to test the frame. It appears we are going to have a little test run in a few days."

He was so preoccupied that he totally missed the person turning the corner and slammed right into them. He took a step back and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

 _He does that a lot_. Aleina thought. And with the people he runs into.

"Brother, I didn't know you were in Britannia." She moved past R.R. to approach the man he was calling her brother.

"Daedalus, this is R.R. He's my associate at the moment."

The prince glanced at R.R. He frowned for whatever reason only a second before it disappeared. "Well, R.R. I do apologize for running into you as well. I am Daedalus En Britannia, second prince of Britannia." Lelouch shook the hand of the prince. He looked over the man. He appeared to be somewhere around twenty. He had dark brown hair, almost black, short with swooping bangs. His height was a few inches above Lelouch's, but the frame was pretty similar.

 _If I recall, Aleina mentioned him as well. He may also be of some use to me._

"I've heard of you before." Daedalus began. "You were the one to command the defense forces in Perndragon and stave off the Phoenix order correct?"

"Yes." Lelouch answered. "I was unaware that news spread so quickly, if at all."

Daedalus smiled. "Oh of course. You have quite the reputation. Such a deed does not go unnoticed."

"So I see."

"Where on earth did you find such an individual Aleina?" Daedalus asked.

"Oh." Aleina sighed. "It's a long story."

"Still, how odd a name. It was my immediate thought upon hearing of your feat. I only wish I could have been there myself." Daedalus looked over Lelouch again before taking his hand again.

"Any way, I'm glad to have met you. Aleina, send my regards to Marellia if you will."

He gave a nod to the princess and hurried off down the hall the way they came.

Lelouch smiled. "He's rather interesting isn't he?"

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Elsewhere, a certain prince of Britannia quickly made his way to a place where he could not be overheard. He pulled out his phone dialed a number. He waited impatiently before they finally answered.

"About what you said earlier, I think you may be right." He told them. "And I think I may have just found their contractor."

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 **Mush ha ha! You don't get to know what it is just yet! But soon, very soon.**


	8. Conquest

**Finally the moment you have all been waiting for has arrived! The knightmare shall at last be revealed! I do hope you all like it.**

 **I do apologize for such a long time since an update. I promise i'll try harder to fix that.**

 **Blonde guy 47: My reason exactly**

 **Chapter 8: conquest**

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"We have no other choice than to act now!"

The debate had already been going on for quite some time now. However, things weren't going anywhere at all.

Marellia sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. The UFN had no idea how to respond in this situation. It was simply too different from what they were used to solving. And unfortunately, that was the exact reason her brother was able to succeed in his plan.

The aforementioned brother sat in his seat across from her as the 'temporary' military commander and chief of the United Federation of Nations. The current chairman of the UFN to his right.

"And of course we should attack whilst we still have the advantage." Gideon replied to the council member who spoke earlier."However I must insist we be more cautious as it is. We have no idea what our enemies strength is nor do we know their have proved the ability to attack us where we are weakest already. It would not surprise me to see this assault take a turn for the worse should we not prepare ourselves."

The other members all nodded silently,looking at each other. The man Gideon spoke against grit his teeth, and reluctantly sat down.

"Now everyone." Gideon continued. "What we have here is the opportunity to eliminate this threat right now. As of now we have produced two FLEIJA warheads. These weapons will give of the fighting edge against the Phoenix Order and their FLEIJAs."

He cleared his throat. "Marellia, if you would." He gestured to his sister sitting on the far end of the room. She nodded to him,then stood up.

"As you all know, our scouting units have detected traces of the Phoenix Order'sprimary airship docked off the coast of India just three days ago. We have no idea howling they are planning on staying there. However, knowing this. We will be able to strike the Phoenix Order in our own offensive assault. If all goes well, we will succeed in defeating their entire forces, and end this conflict."

"Yes, but are we really capable of going up against them right now?" One member asked.

"We hardly have any knightmares as it is. Only fourteen frames defended against the assault on Pendragon. We have next to nothing." Another added.

"Yet that only raises a bigger question. What of the man known as R.R.?"

The room immediately fell silent at the mention of the name. Gideon narrowed his eyes, while Marellia stared at him, looking for anything to be seen in his face. And Daedalus suddenly became interested in the conversation.

"From what I understand, you were the one to give him command over the fourteen knightmares that successfully defended Pendragon against eighty Unknown knightmare frames. Is that correct your highness?"

Marellia looked at the man who asked the question, still keeping her eye on her brother. "Yes. I gave command to R.R. It was completely his doing that we were able to hold the capital. He is nothing short of a tactical genius. Not only that, but he was throne who informed me of the existence of the Phoenix order's airship. He has already done far more than any of us."

"Then why is he not here now? He should be helping us with our counterattack!" Another accused.

"I'm more than certain that he is. More than anything we are squabbling about. He has been active behind the scenes since this all started. Helping us directly is not his style." Marellia defended.

The man huffed. "sounds like a copout to me. Just what is he doing then?"

"I have minimal contact with him. He speaks to me when he deems necessary. I have no way to contact him."

"Marellia, one thing before we move on. "Gideon spoke, drawing everyone's attention. "Whose side is he on?"

"Ours." Marellia quickly responded. "The people of the world. That is who he fights for."

"I see. Then there is no further need to debate this. Tomorrow at 0700 hours we will begin our assault against the Phoenix Order and bring this nightmare to a close."

Gideon stood, slamming a hand against the table. "Meeting adjourned!"

As Marellia herself got up to leave, she felt a tap in her shoulder and turned to see Gideon. "Brother." She greeted.

"Marellia. I just wanted to know, if there was any way I could speak with R.R. again."

Marellia shook her head. "Like I said, I don'thave a way to contact him. I can't get you through to him."

"Very well. If you say so. Perhaps I will see him again then. He has a gift, that we are in dire need of." Gideon said, looking at all the departing councilmen.

"Whatever he's doing, is far more important than whatever it is he could do here, I'm certain." Marellia reassured him.

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"Oh my god this is so good! "

Edmond lazily looked up from the computer screen to see R.R. gorging himself on aslice of pizza. He raised an eyebrow before returning back to his analysis.

"Have you ever had Pizza Hut before?" R. with a mouthful of the said delicacy.

"Yes. I'm quite sure everyone has." Edmond responded.

"There's just something about it you can't experience until...I don't know, your immortal? That's the only correlation I can think of."

"Interesting. Although on a different topic, I would still love totake a look at your anatomy. Just to see if you're any different that's all." Edmond looked up at him.

"You wouldn't be the first. But I already had someone analyze it. They didn't find anything." He mentioned.

"Is that so? Who would that be?" Edmondasked.

"Lloyd Asplund."

Edmond's eyes went wide at the name."Seriously?! You knew Asplund?"

"I did. Rakshata as well."

Edmond stared at him, mouth agape.

"How else did I get ahold of the frame?"R.R. Grinned.

He just shook his head. "My what I would give to see that."

"He was an interesting one I'll say that."R.R. smiled.

"Ah!" Edmond suddenly remarked, and R.R. looked at him. "Looks like the analysis came through green."

"So it's ready?" He asked.

"More or less." Edmond replied, glancing up at the frame behind him. "Thanks to the tests yesterday, I can say it will work exceptionally well."

"And the device?"

Edmond frowned. "Well, no guarantees. But it does look good. The application is slightly different from the original device, so I can't exactly tell. If you think you can actually use it...it is going to be a bit easier. A lot of the process is automated now, but not all of it."

R.R. nodded. Finishing off the last of his pizza, he stood and strode toward the towering frame. "Won't it be a sight to see."He laughed. "I can't wait to see the look on Aleina's face just before I use it."

Edmond smiled. "Yes, that would be quite humorous."

"What will?"

The two turned to see the princess in question waking toward them, a scowl on her face. "What did you not tell me?"

R.R. waved her off, shaking his head. "Oh nothing, nothing important."

She huffed, glaring at him. "I swear if you know something-"

"It's no big deal, you'll see what I mean when we use it. Speaking of it, any word from Marellia?"

Aleina sighed, pulling out her phone. "Yes,the council decided to commence the operation at seven tomorrow morning."

R.R. turned to look at Edmond. "We'll be ready by then." He confirmed.

"Good. Then all tasks at hand have been cleared." He clasped his hands together, a mischievous grin creeping upon his face."The time for our grand debut has finally arrived!"

He began to approach the knightmare, pulling Aleina along with him. "Come come, we must be prepared for tomorrow. I want you to know the system like the back of yourhand!"

She groaned. "Really? We already spent all day yesterday in that thing."

He just shrugged her off as he prepared the frame.

 _The time has nearly come. Now all that's undetermined is the last variable. When the puppet decides...it no longer has a master_.

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And there the puppet stood, in the bridge of the Phoenix Order's flagship. He watched with a hard gaze over the small bay where the airship was docked, in their small base of operations in the Indian coast. His solemn gaze drifted further out sea, where he knew the britannians and their friends would soon arrive. And this now peaceful haven would become a warzone. But who was he to speak like that? It was him; Claudious Volgarre of the Phoenix Order,whose purpose was to bring about a new age of conflict and evolution through strife.

Bah! What nonsense! How absurd a notion to believe humans as a species evolve in the face of war. There was the saying that war is the mother of all invention, but what...the FLIEJA? Yes indeed, the invention of devastation. If there was actually someone among his ranks who joined because they genuinely believed in this ridiculous cause. Anyone worth their weight among the Phoenix Order knew full well the reason why.

It was all at the will of their sponsor. To create an organization whose very nature goes against the will of the entire world. Something so vile to threaten the safety of their fragile peace. And who was he? To go around as if he owned Claudious. The man they only call a sponsor. He was the one who gave them the FLEIJA, and he gave them the means to stage this fake revolution. The man held him like a puppet on strings, the entire world his stage for some game. But for what purpose? He was one of the Britannian royalty no doubt. Daedalus perhaps? The man certainly looked cunning enough, but Claudious couldn't find any way he could benefit fromall this.

Marellia would be more likely, she held more power in the UFN it wouldn't be a stretch to say she could use those connections. But...

Gideon himself.

Yes, the one on top of it all. It was almost too obvious. Gideon was the one to benefit from all of this in the end, and it was more then easy to say he was capable to stage this little war.

So it was Gideon, he is the sponsor. That doesn't change anything. Claudious grit his teeth. He would not go down as some warmongering fool, he refused to be used like that. What he wanted...was a world free from oppression, all oppression. And that includes the corruption among the government to keep the world safe. Ridiculous! Who controls them?!

"Sir."

Claudious was pulled from his thoughts when another person came to him from behind.

"Zenone." He also acknowledged. "What is it?"

Zenone cleared his throat as he stood beside the leader of the Phoenix Order."We've received word from our sponsor."

Claudious scoffed. "It won't be any different. He doesn't really care what happens to uswhy would he?"

Zenone nodded. "Indeed. All that he said was 'put on a show.'"

"Put on a show." He muttered.

 _Very well Gideon, if it's a show you want, I'll give you the best damn show you've ever seen._

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"We have spotted the enemy airship sir!"

Gideon stared straight ahead as his fleet slowly made their way closer to the gulf, and to the battle.

He had with him three airships belonging to the UFN. Two smaller ones and his flagship, the Godwyn

"The gulf is too isolated." Gideon realized."We won't be able to deploy ground troops effectively."

He glanced around at all his officers, at Marellia and Daedalus. The thought of commanding such a crucial battle was near terrifying. Still he put on his best face and prepared to engage the enemy head on.

"Five miles out!"

"Prepare howitzer cannons!" He commanded.

The massive cannons positioned at the frontof his ships boasted the most powerful range, and were capable of effectively barraging a target with heavy firepower from three miles out. Men scrambled on the decks to load these weapons, preparing to fire on the airship closing in.

"Four miles!"

Marellia turned to Gideon from his side. "Be cautious brother. We still do not know what they are capable of, we must be tactful in this." Even if he was her enemy she had no intention of losing this battle. The emperor nodded, fully understanding the situation.

"We're picking up radio chatter on the Phoenix Order's location! It's possible they've spotted us!"

"Deploy all knightmare squadrons, assume pattern echo!"

He watched as the newly flight enabled invents poured out of the ship's hull. He was still using the outdated frame as the UFN had not yet produced a more effective frame. The Evalyn was still more effective, but he hoped that sheer numbers could win this over. That and some tactical ingenuity.

"Closing in on the red zone, twenty second still in range!"

As the tension mounted, Gideon watched the far off airship with a steely gaze; attempting to discern something from the imposing warship.

"Ten seconds!"

The Phoenix Order's airship slowly rose from the ground, turning to face the incoming battle.

"Fire!" Gideon ordered

Deafening explosions signaled the cannon's barrage, and seconds later the shells smashed against the defense shield that materialized in front of their target.

"Confirmed hit! Maintain barrage!" The officer reported.

"All units fan out! Prepare for combat!" Gideon commanded, watching his knightmares spread out among the airspace, following closely to their respective airships.

Meanwhile Claudious watched as the three UFN airships slowly closed in on his position.

"Sir the enemy is almost in position!" An officer shouted over the sound of the howitzers hitting their shield. He grinned.

Gideon was a fool to think he could win. Hewouldn't come close. It was all but obvious he would move in just close enough to use the Havok missile system the UFN developed. That and he would come no closer than he needed to.

"Perhaps you should have studied the art of war before you claimed yourself an expert."

He chuckled, it was almost too easy.

"Fire missiles!"

At Gideon's command, one hundred deadly projectiles rocketed toward the Phoenix Order at impossible speed. Each caused a gigantic explosion that threatened to shatter the airship's only defense.

"Prepare volley!"

The UFN stopped its advance in an imposing line of Knightmares with their airships firing just behind.

"Fire second vo-" before he could finish, an explosion rocked the flagship Godwyn

"What was that?!" Gideon asked.

"We just lost the Valiance!"

Gideon went wide eyed as he whipped to the right to see instead of his own airship; a wrecked hull engulfed in flame plummeting down into the sea. And two unknown airships behind it.

"What?!"

"The Vanguard's float system had been crippled!"

He turned to the left and saw the UFN airship slowly sink down revealing yet another two enemy ships.

"An ambush?!" Gideon realized. Was he really so naive to fall for such a simple tactic?

"Enemy knightmares approaching from the Flagship!"

Gideon faced forward to see hundreds of Evalyns barrel down from the Phoenix order's airship, decending down on his frontline.

"Pull back all Vincents! Defend the Godwyn!"

Shortly after the Evalyns tore into his ranks, and dozens of skirmishes began as the four flanking airships began pounding the Godwyn's shields.

Gideon gashed his teeth together. You've forced my hand Claudious. I have no other choice then to use the FLEIJA. God forgive us.

Claudious grinned from ear to ear as he now watched the last UFN airship reducing to nothing. He figured it was about now that Gideon would realize he had but one option still left.

And that was Gideon's greatest mistake. He believed the FLEIJA to be his trump card.

The special thing about this airship, simply called the Phoenix, was its unique duel warhead cannons. It's capability to fire two simultaneous FLEIJAs. One to counter the UFN's, and one to finish this pathetic battle.

He was no longer the puppet. He was the master, and he controlled the board. Gideon, Deadalus Marellia; it didn't matter. They'd all be dead!

And so with unison two men ordered the beginning of the end, what would start the war of attrition between two power hungry sides with only one goal. Complete victory.

"Fire the FLEIJA!"

Two giant spheres of pure devastation propelled themselves from the airships. Their ominous glow a terrifying sight to the knightmares pilots the spheres narrowly missed on their path. They hurtled toward each other before finally colliding and then...

Nothing.

There was silence from both the FLEIJAs and the two who launched them.

"What...was that?" Claudious wondered, with very similar thoughts on Gideon's mind.

"Did the FLEIJAs cancel each other out?" He asked himself.

"Look!" One of Gideon's officers pointed to where the warheads collided and there it was.

A black knightmare frame standing more then twice the hight of the average frame. It's golden accents glistened off the sun, making the frame more visible. Upon seeing the knightmare Gideon paled.

Marellia frowned, turning to her brother. "Brother, what's wrong?"

"That's...that's impossible." He muttered.

"What is? What is it?" She pressed.

"That knightmare. It can't exist." Gideon said.

Now even Daedalus was showing concern.

"The Shinkiro Conquest."

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"Fuck...you."

Aleina's insult was only met with more hysterical laughter.

"This is what you were talking about with Mr. Calvaire wasn't it?!" Aleina demanded.

R.R. paused his cackling a moment to answer. "You should have seen the look on your face!" He mocked.

"I thought we were going to die!" She defended herself.

"Oh please. This thing can defuse up to four FLEIJAs at the same time. We were fine." He countered.

"Well I didn't know that."

Aleina growled, gritting her teeth. "I swear to god I am never getting in this thing again."

"Oh whatever. I need you to monitor the secondary systems. I can't run this frame efficiently without you." R.R. stated.

"Well you'll have to learn how to." Aleina threatened, whacking the back of the seat in front of her.

"Not today." R.R. laughed. "Look alive. We'll be getting company soon."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"That knightmare, is more dangerous then any damage a FLEIJA could never hope to achieve."

Marellia turned to the black knightmare hovering ominously between the two factions.

Is that what R.R. was doing?

"It shouldn't even exist." Gideon continued. "During its production the frame was deemed an impossibility to pilot. Only a select few could even handle its control style, much less pilot the frame to its full potential. They classified it as an eleventh generation frame."

Daedalus frowned. "I thought the Lancelot and Guren only had ninth generation models."

"They did." Gideon answered. "The frame was so powerful it surpassed the predicted specs of the tenth generation super knightmares."

Gideon shuddered, staring at the still unmoved frame. "If that pilot can defuse two FLEIJAs at one time I have no doubt he can pilot that death machine."

"Then what do we do?" Marellia asked.

"Nothing." Gideon answered. "It hasn't attacked yet, and perhaps it won't. Maybe Claudious will be foolish enough to provoke it."

The three of them stood helpless as the knightmare remained in the same position it had been in since it first arrived. Marellia had no doubt now that was R.R. piloting the frame. But she still hand no idea what would happen next.

She felt her phone buzz, and discreetly pulled it out to see a message from Aleina. 'Please insure no UFN knightmares approach the Shinkiro. He cannot guarantee their safety.'

She shuddered. Just what the hell was that thing?

Claudious on the other hand, was completely enraged.

"Damn it!" He yelled.

It was certain that knightmare was responsible for the disarming of the FLEIJA. That presented quite the problem.

His best advantage was the FLEIJA. Not just against the UFN at the present but as a threat against the entire world. If the dangers of the FLEIJA were now completely void...he was powerless. He may defeat the UFN now, but his army alone cannot conquer an entire planet.

"Damn it all!"

He had no other option. That knightmare had to be eliminated. "All squadrons converge on that frame! Destroy it!"

Both sides watched as the several hundred knightmares quickly closed in against the Shinkiro.

Without moving from its spot, a strange device popped off its back. It hovered behind the Shinkiro a moment before suddenly expanding around the knightmare, locking together to form a ring with the Shinkiro at the center. A ring with eight miniature cannons lining its perimeter.

The ring slowly started to spin until its speed almost made it invisible. And before the Evalyns had even a chance to get near the Shinkiro, they suddenly began erupting into balls of flame. Dozens were blown from the sky a second, and not one came close to reaching their target before every single knigtmare what been removed.

"The shatter sphere." Gideon said.

"The what?" Marellia asked.

"It's the Shinkiro's most powerful weapon, the one reason it was deemed so deadly, and so hard to pilot." He explained.

The ring continued to spin at incredible speeds, and now Claudious was furious, and slightly terrified.

"Send in Quincy squad!" He ordered. He now realized not defeating that knightmare most definitely meant his certain defeat.

The eight frames he deployed were specially modified Evalyns whose speed had been amped up to dominate anything currently on the battlefield. In a situation where the FLEIJA was not useful, they were his trump card.

"Speed won't help you." Gideon said. "The shatter sphere fires at dozens of targets instantaneously. Do you really think you can avoid it?"

And as the weapon began firing, three of the state of the art frames were instantly obliterated. The other pilots desperately tried to dodge the gunfire dogging at theirs heels. In just another few seconds two more Quincy pilots were taken down.

"These ones are lasting longer than most." R.R. commented from inside the frame.

"They can slightly avoid the shatter sphere by moving fast enough. But one false move is all it takes." Aleina explained.

"Well. Then it seems its time for a change in tactics."

Quincy one suddenly jerked backward when a round exploded just in front of his path. "It's predicting my movements?!"

"Three probable path ways. And three simultaneous rounds at those locations. Looks like one of them found that out though."

The last Quincy unit charged straight forward at top speed.

"Oh, he's really going for it." R.R. commented.

"I've got you!" The pilot shouted in triumph as he descended on the massive Shinkiro. Until it completely disappeared.

"...what?"

Then no sooner did his knightmare explode, with a materialized Shinkiro already several hundred feet from where it was.

"Impossible!" Claudious shouted. "Fire all weapons! Take it down!"

Before the order could even be given, the knightmare disappeared again, and a second later a gash extending the entire ship appeared on one of his airships before it erupted. Then the another, and another.

"Retreat." Claudious said, almost in a whisper. "We can't win."

As Lelouch finished dispatching of the other airships he turned to see the big one fleeing. A glowing aura began to envelop it before it vanished from the eye.

"Cloaking technology. That's weird I thought the thing was using it at Japan but we could see it then. And now..."

He sighed. "Doesn't matter. I didn't have Edmond install the advanced sensors yet so it's out of our reach now."

At the Godwyn, Gideon watched solemnly as the lone frame stood amidst the burning wreckage all around the gulf.

"Pull back." He ordered. "It's clear who's won this fight."

He kept the Shinkiro in the corner if his eye as they left the newly established graveyard, fearing it would suddenly come after them.

"A true man of war." He whispered. "That pilot..."

He was more of a danger then the Phoenix Order itself.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A woman stood on a balcony overlooking the city of pendragon. She had a fierce scowl on her face, as she thought over what had just recently occurred.

"The Shinkiro Conquest." She said.

Such a turn of events certainly changed things. It threw a rather large wrench into her plan.

"You're certain it was fully functional?" Se asked.

"Yes. Without a doubt it was used to its fullest extent. It went from using he shatter sphere to physical combat in a split second." Daedalus said, standing, behind her.

"That should be impossible." She responded.

"That's what Gideon said." Daedalus told her. "Do you think...R.R. could be involved?"

She remained silent a moment. "Perhaps. I don't know what to think of him. There should not be anther code. The second was erased along with emperor Charles, it wasn't passed on."

"Then who is he?" Daedalus asked.

"Another code I haven't encountered before? I suppose it's not entirely impossible." She frowned. "But who possess the Geass?"

"Marellia is the one who keeps in contact with him, it may be her." Daedalus suggested.

"Yes...but did you see him with Aleina?" She asked.

"I did. Thinking of it, he would have no reason to associate himself with her. Marellia has status, connections power. Aleina has nothing. Unless she had Geass."

She nodded, agreeing with him. "But then why? Why give her Geass? If she does in fact have no skill."

"I'm not sure." Daedalus replied. "I suppose we still don't know anything about him."

The two stood silent a moment, before Daedalus continued. "Then what of the Shinkiro? He only attacked the Phoenix Order, but Gideon made it clear he was no ally to him."

"I see to options. Either he is a peacekeeper in this conflict, given he only retaliated after being attacked. Or his enemy was not the UFN itself-"

"But Gideon." Daedalus guessed.

"Yes. Had he been sides with The UFN and by extension Gideon he would have made that known."

"So perhaps he is like us?"

"It's only a possibility." She said. "He is more likely a peacekeeper actually."

"Then what do we do?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. The Shinkiro would be a huge obstacle for us right now. We must wait this out and see what happens. We're not ready just yet."

Daedalus nodded. "What should I do now?"

"I'll dig around and see what I can find on the Shinkiro. Restoring something like that can't happen without some sort of a trail. If you can get something out of Your sister, try to. The more we know about this x-factor the better."

"Right." Daedalus replied. He turned to leave, but stopped half way.

"C.C.?" He asked.

"Yes?"

"Why did you pick me? To give me Geass?"

She looked down, eyes clouded. "You remind me of someone. Someone important to me. Because of that I knew you would be right for this."

"I see." Daedalus answered. "Thank you, C.C. I truly am glad to have the chance."

She nodded, still facing away from him. After a second of silence, Daedalus turned and left, leaving C.C. alone.

She ran a hand through he now parted hair, touching the completely visible Geass sigil on her forehead.

 _I no longer hide who I am. I've stopped collecting experiences, and started living._

"Living for you Lelouch."

She would not allow his sacrifice to be in vain. She dedicated herself to keep this world together for his sake.

She wasn't sure why she cut her hair. Was it to erase her old self? The person who felt dead inside living a life of solitude? She still felt condemned to a hell on earth, but at least now she had a reason to keep on living. She found her reason.

"I swear I will stop this." She whispered. "You will live on with me. I wish you could see it, what I plan to do. I'm sure it would make you smile."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **And there's the end of that!**

 **I've mentioned before that I'm going to post stuff on deviant art from this story, and that's gonna happen within the week. I have pictures of (almost) every character, as well as on of the Shinkiro Conquest. Stay tuned for that!**


	9. Declaration of War

**R.R.**

 **I have returned! There was something I've been hesitating for a long time on whether or not to add to this chapter, because one little thing that will happen in two chapters from now, but in the end I found I could have both. So this chapter actually does have something to it. You'll see what I mean.**

 **Chapter 9: Declaration of War**

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Edmond Calvaire had a wistful smile on his face as he circled around the Shinkiro. "Well, I'd say that was a very successful run." He commented.

Sitting behind him, Lelouch nodded in agreement. "The frame performed exceptionally well thanks to you."

"Hardly." Edmond replied. "I didn't do much, but I don't think it could have gotten off the ground without you piloting it."

R.R. smirked. "Maybe. There are only a handful of people capable of piloting it."

"Indeed, a brilliant mind wins against even the strongest of foes." Edmond commented.

The scientist made his way to the desk R.R. was at, and fished out a large blueprint. "Either way." He began, holding it up. "I finished testing Mr. Stadtfeld and I believe I have just the right model for him."

Lelouch stood up to look at the schematics for a new knightmare yet to be born. "Senchineru." He read.

"I thought over his abilities and found how to best use them to compliment the Shinkiro in battle. This frame should be a nice fit for him, and for the Shinkiro." Edmond explained.

Lelouch nodded, looking at all the details. "I see that." He commented. "How long will it take?" He asked.

Edmond shrugged. "Thanks to the prime minister's generous assistance I can probably have the frame assembled in a few weeks. But that doesn't mean it will have been tested and ready."

Lelouch shook his head. "That will be fine. I doubt any of our opponents will be eager to go at it again anytime soon."

Edmond chuckled as he put the blueprints back on the table. "You have them quite a show. You have the UFN running with their tail between their leg and the Phoenix Order left in pieces."

"For now." Lelouch added. "But Gideon won stop there. He'll meet force with fire I'm sure. And I can't say Claudious is done for yet, I don't know the extent of his capabilities nor his resources."

His eyes narrowed, and his tone darkened. "No. The only way to beat him with absolute certainty, is to kill him."

Edmond silently nodded. He understood, such measures were necessary.

"So this is where you're hiding!"

Lelouch looked toward the top of the stairway that led out of the warehouse to find a woman with a furious look on her face. "Marellia? What are you doing here? How did you even find this place?!" He stuttered, standing up.

"Aleina told me." She replied, marching down the metal stairs. "Just what the hell are you thinking?! Why didn't I know anything about this?" Marellia demanded.

"You're too close to Gideon." He cooly answered. "It's plausible deniability. If Gideon thinks your connected to me, and he assumes I was piloting the Shinkiro, which he very well may; he will come for you."

He let out an agitated sigh, putting his hand to his head. "That was why, but now it doesn't really matter."

"You're damn right it doesn't matter!" Marellia shouted. "Was Aleina in that thing too?!"

"Yes, I need her to operate the Shinkiro effectively." R.R. told her.

"That's not going to happen again, do you understand?" She spoke with a seething malice.

"If your worried about her safety, don't be." He retorted with a calm tone. "You know that cockpit is the safest place on that battlefield."

Marellia frowned, folding her arms. She didn't want to admit it, but he was right

"I understand your anger Marellia." Lelouch spoke softly. "I know what it's like to want to protect someone, with everything you have."

Marellia looked at him. "What do you mean?"

He gave a faint smile, a nearly invisible trace of unmeasurable anguish in his eyes. "I had a sister too." He told her.

"Oh." Marellia looked down. "I see."

She shook her head, her focus turned back to him. "You know, I hardly know you at all don't I?"

"It's better you don't" Lelouch said.

"Once this is all over, you won't be able to find me again."

"What do you mean?" Marellia asked.

"Aleina was never supposed to have found me in the first place. Next time, I'm making certain no one does."

 _That's all I want._ He thought. _I couldn't bare to leave this code to someone else, especially not Aleina._

 _So in the least, just let me disappear._

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Isaac sat at a computer, watching the same video footage for what must have been the tenth time over. He saw the Shinkiro suddenly appear out of the blinding collision of the two FLIEJA warheads, and hover like an ominous reaper of death. The clip continued to the activation of the shatter sphere, and the destruction of the Phoenix Order airships.

 _Am I really going to pilot something that powerful?_ He thought in awe. Part of him wondered if he was even necessary.

"Watcha lookin' at?"

He jumped at the voice, glancing behind him to see Annie peering over his shoulder. "It-it's nothing." He stammered pausing the video.

His younger sister squinted at the computer screen showing the distant black frame taken from the fleeing Godwyn. "Is that...a knightmare?" She asked.

"This is just a video from the battle at India yesterday. They sent it out to all military personal, so I guess I still got it."

"Yeah." Annie said, still looking at the frozen knightmare in the picture. "Rumors stared spreading about that at school. Some kind of super knightmare or something."

Isaac frowned. "How do people know about that? I would have thought the UFN wouldn't want information about that leaking until they got it all sorted out."

Annie just shrugged. "I don't know much. But I guess stuff just travels quickly."

Isaac nodded. "Apparently."

After a moment, Annie took hold of her brother's arm. "Come on, I'm hungry. Lets go eat somewhere."she requested.

"eat out?" Isaac asked, baffled. "We can afford that!"

"Yeah, you got a bonus didn't you?" Annie said, as if stating the obvious.

Isaac frowned. "I didn't know that, what are you talking about?"

Now Annie frowned at her brother's lack of knowledge. "I checked your account, we got a $2,000 deposit from a private military account."

"Huh?" Isaac, replied, completely confused, until an idea of the source came to mind. Was it from R.R.? For what?

"Never mind. But I don't want to go war anywhere anyway." He told her.

Annie pouted. "I wanna celebrate my perfect test score. Don't I deserve it?" She gave him the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. In response, Isaac turned his head to avert her stare. "That's not going to work on me!" He insisted.

"Please!" She whined, squeezing his arm.

"No!"

"Pleeaaase!" She cried, throwing her body weight onto his arm.

"I said no!"

Unfortunately for Isaac, he did not end up winning that fight either.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

In an unknown location, the leader of the Phoenix order sat alone in a darkened room. His face was contorted into the same bitter features he had been wearing since the events that transpired yesterday.

His fingers were rapping the arm of his chair in a quick beat, the only thing he seemed to be doing.

 _What am I going to do?_

Like the many people involved in the battle yesterday, he was left without a clue as to his actions thanks to the knightmare known as the Shinkiro. However his response dictated that of hundreds of people. Yet now that seemed quite meaningless.

"Damn that knightmare." He muttered.

"As it stands I am completely powerless against something like that." He chuckled to himself. "What a pathetic rat race this is."

"Sir," his second in command, Zenone spoke from beside him. "The UFN will be holding a meeting today to discuss the Shinkiro. We can see what they are planning, and make our move."

Claudious shook his head, snorting. "Does it matter? Half our forces were lost in mere seconds. It will take months to rebuild what was destroyed. Now even the FLEIJA has lost it's edge."

"Then perhaps we must try a new approach." Zenone suggested.

Claudious let out a sigh. "Even if we were to complete our own frame, we have no one proficient enough to pilot it." He put a hand to his forehead, rubbing his temples. "The only half decent devicers we had were in Quincy squad."

"Not exactly." Zenone returned.

Claudious frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Just leave that to me "

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Later that evening, Isaac and Annie were making their way home after eating at a restaurant far too expensive for his liking.

He raised the bag of food to his eyesight, staring at it with annoyance. "Almost forty bucks for sushi. Seriously, what are we going to do with it?"

"It's tomorrow's lunch!" Annie replied, walking beside him down the road.

"You can't save sushi." He told her, lowering the bag. "It's raw fish."

"Then I'll eat it all tonight." Annie decided.

"You'll get sick."

"Then I get to stay home and play video games." She answered with a grin.

Isaac sighed at his sister. "No, you will stay in bed all day."

"You can't make me!" She shouted, running off ahead of him.

"Annie." He moaned, extending his free arm toward her. "Ugh, such a pain."

She looked back at him, a grin on her face as she continued to run. Reluctantly, he began to take chase. But after a moment he stopped when he started hearing what sounded like shouting. At first he thought Annie might have ran into someone. Until he saw another person breaking through the crowd a ways up the side walk. She stumbled through them, before picking herself up and continued to run. He stood there with a frown until she came to him and stopped herself, about to turn into the alley beside him. He cocked his head, looking her over. Her shoulder length black hair and purple eyes looking somewhat familiar. "Wait..." He started. "Don't I know you?"

The girl looked at him, clutching the bag she was holding. And without a moment's notice threw her open palm into his nose. He reeled back, his hand dropping the food as it shot up to caress his now bleeding nose. "What was that for?!" He he asked. But the girl was already gone, sprinting full speed down the alley.

He groaned, holding his head up to stop the bleeding as he saw two panting officers run to him and stop. "Where did she go?!" They demanded, not even caring about his current state. He half heartedly pointed down the alley, where the two immediately ran.

"Gaaah." He moaned. "Seriously, what the hell."

"Did she just punch you in the face?" Annie said as she approached him, looking like she would break down laughing.

"It was a cheap shot." He defended, picking up a napkin from the scattered food on the ground, and shoved it up his nose. "Come here, I need to find out what's going on."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Since the meeting began fifteen minutes ago, the only thing to have been accomplished was a fair amount of finger pointing. The battle at india was certainly a disaster. And while the blame did not fall on any particular person, the group of UFN leaders wanted a scapegoat, if only to feel better about themselves. Gideon was surprised no one had yet looked to him for the failure, he was in fact the one who led the Godwyn into that gulf. He supposed there wasn't anyone here with enough balls to call out the emperor of Britannia for his faults.

While he was waiting for the group to finally get their heads straight, Gideon was thinking of the shinkiro. While he believed he had something in the works to match the sheer power of the frame, it did nothing to end the question as to how it appeared, and who was behind the controls. Clearly, someone was not only able to find it, but restored to a full functional meant he needed to be in contact, or more likely working with, someone with the knowledge of knightmare construction. And anyone outside of Camelot industries tended to keep that skill set hidden from the world, for obvious reasons.

So the real question he needed to ask wasvwho is the pilot? Someone who knew the battle would take place, yet was not directly sided with the UFN. Someone who had the ability to pilot the Shinkiro, and diffuse two FLEIJA simultaneously. It frustrated him to no end, unable to come up with the slightest idea. It made it all the worse that he had no idea if this person was even to be considered an ally or enemy. The only thing he knew for certain was that they were an enemy to the Phoenix Order. but did that make him an ally? Gideon shook his head, of course not.

His turned his attention back to the meeting, where it seemed they finally decided to take action.

"Perhaps we should take credit for the Shinkiro publicly, claim that we fielded it." one member suggested. There were many heads that nodded in agreement. "That would put the phoenix order on edge, if they believed the Shinkiro belonged to us." another added to the idea.

Gideon shook his head, and decided to speakup. "Then what when the Shinkiro suddenly decides to attack us? Whether we fend it off or not, we took credit for something clearly not ours. Think of what the general public would think after that."

The UFN all looked at him, most seeing his point. "We must treat this unknown as an enemy. And as such be prepared for anything that it can do. Should it choose to go against us, we would be fools to let it cut through our forces. You all saw what happened at India. Not only did we fall prey to Claudious, but we were helpless to the Shinkiro as well."

The group all remained silent, expecting him to continue, so he did. "There was a very specific reason I wished to prolong our attack, but i do believe it provided a good learning experience for amateurs like ourselves. But," he hesitated, and whispered something to the attendant beside him, who nodded. "We will not make that same mistake again. Now we will enter battle prepared for anything. And this time, nothing will stop us."

The doors to the meeting room opened, and through them, four people dressed in identical attire entered. They came to stand side by side in the center of the room, glistening white suits underneath different colored capes. Gideon stepped from the podium to the floor, standing before them.

"Knight of Four." gideon addressed the farthest to the left, a man with red hair spiked up on just the right side. "Alex Hemsworth."

"Knight of Three," he moved to the next, with long dark brown hair and a single braid. "Enna Larkwell."

"Knight of Two." the third, a man with medium length black hair, and a very cold stare. 'Ryan Heybourne."

"And Knight of one." Gideon came before the woman standing on the right, with short blonde hair that had three braids she considered a familial mark. "Vivian Weinberg."

After having introduced the newcomers, gideon turned toward the congregation. "As of this moment, we have four fully operational Knights of the Round."

From up on the stage, the aged prime minister of Britannia frowned. _This is not good_.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

She ran though a puddle, delving deeper into the dark alleyways. Behind her she could hear the shouts of the two men pursuing her, their voices echoing off the walls. It sounded like they were closing in. She gripped her bag, making a sharp turn into a thinner alley. She wasn't sure if she could outrun them, but she did know where she could hide.

As she got closer to the dead end ahead of her, she jumped atop a trash can, and used it as a spring board. Her hands grabbed hold of the ladder's lowest rung, which she quickly scrambled up. She then reached the platform that granted her access to an open window. She vaulted inside, dropping down fifteen or so feet to the ground of an abandoned warehouse. She pressed herself against the wall, listening the voices stop on the other side. She waited as they passed, looking for their target elsewhere.

She let out a sigh of relief as she pushed herself off the wall and trotted toward the exit, until she saw someone there.

"That's not very nice." He said, standing between her and the only way out of the empty warehouse. "I think you broke my nose or something."

"How did you get here?" She demanded, taking a defensive step back.

He shrugged, pulling out a bloodied napkin from his nose. "I live around here. These alleys are a shortcut."

She looked at him expectantly, not understanding why that was important.

"I saw you jump through the window."

"What do you want?" She asked, her grip on the bag tightening.

"Just to know why your running from the police, with a bag you clearly hold with high value." He replied, still standing in front of the doorway.

"It's none of your business." She quickly answered.

"I think it is. I do have a pair of handcuffs in my back pocket, and a right to arrest you for suspicious behavior." He threatened, hand reaching for said cuffs.

"Your with the police?" She asked, clearly confused.

"Military." He explained. "Same thing to you right now."

She lowered her stance, and slung the bag in front of her. With a look of irritation she removed the object inside of it.

"An energy filler?" Isaac frowned.

"It's a special kind. And worth a lot to some people."

"So you're just a thief." He said. _Why would she take that?_ He thought. i _s she working with R.R. as well? Or just as likely the Phoenix Order._

"Now are you going to let go of do I have to make sure your nose is broken?"

Isaac stared at her a moment before stepping to the side. "Fine." He said.

With her eyes on him the whole time, the girl walked past him and into the doorway where she stopped. "My name is Nora by the way." She told Isaac, surprising him. "I was in the same class at Ashford with you for two years."

With that she walked off, leaving Isaac to watch her go. He furrowed his brow, trying to recall a Nora from his time at school.

"...Nora?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"I see. That is...problematic." Jeremiah heard from the other end of his phone.

"The four strongest knights of the round. If it were the old Knights the Shinkiro wouldn't stand a chance."

Jeremiah grunted. "These ones are inexperienced, and still don't know quite how powerful the Shinkiro truly is, but its still a big risk."

He continued to watch as the council meeting continued, Gideon stood in the center as he formulated a plan.

"That's why I need to field Isaac as soon as possible. His skill could even the playing field." Lelouch replied.

"I can see what there is to be done for Calvaire to finish the Senchineru sooner." He offered.

"Yes, do that."

After a moment of silence Lelouch continued. "Is the meeting still going?"

"Yes." Jeremiah responded. "They are deciding on when to next attack."

"I'm sending Aleina and Marellia there. They should be where Gideon can see them for what I'm going to do."

Jeremiah frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Am I correct in assuming you can arrange an uninterrupted worldwide broadcast?"

"Yes" he replied, the realization of want was being requested starting to dawn on him. "Are you certain there isn't anything else to be done?"

After a moment, Lelouch responded. "I've thought a long time over this. But I think it's too late to risk trying anything else."

Jeremiah closed his eyes, understanding that his lord was correct.

"After all," Lelouch continued. "If it worked once, it will work again."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Nora opened the door into the regular office room where she found a woman viewing a live recording of the UFN meeting, which she should not be able to do.

"You're late." Nora heard from the woman, whose back was still turned to her.

"It took awhile. I ran into an unexpected problem."

The woman held out her hand expectantly, and Nora put the energy filler into her open hand. She took it and put it on the desk.

"It would have been a lot easier with Geass." She said, half mumbling. But the woman still heard her. She turned in her chair to face Nora, her amber eyes staring straight at her.

"Iv'e told you more than once it is too dangerous for you." She said in a chastising tone."

"But you have it to him." Nora replied, raising her tone.

"Daedalus understands the risks. He knows the consequences he will face. You do not."

Nora folded her arms, and turned her head away in denial.

C.C. sighed. "I've seen more then once. Geass ruins people's lives. It always ends in death. I care too much about you to let that happen to you."

Nora remained like that a moment, before her arms fell and she turned back to face C.C. "Okay." Was all she said.

"There was a time when I would throw it around at anyone who bothered to say yes. Back then I was selfish, and didn't care what happened to the people I affected."

She looked at Nora, whose eyes were facing down at the floor. "You don't need Geass. You are good enough without it. And soon you'll get the chance to prove it."

C.C. grabbed the energy filler from the desk and began to stand up. "Come on, lets give this to R&D."

But before she finished she glanced at the computer long enough to see the black screen replace the video feed.

"What is..." She began. Both Nora and C.C. saw the screen change to that of the upper body a single person with long black hair, wearing a black coat over a white suit.

"Greetings, United Federation of Nations, Phoenix Order, and citizens of the world." The man began.

"What in the world." Nora commented, getting closer to the screen.

"I, am known as R.R."

 _So that's him?!_ C.C. thought. She then noticed the half of red sigil his hair dod not cover painted onto his forehead. _So he does have a code._ All theories of coincidence disappeared

"As most of you now know, yesterday Gideon led the UFN in an attack against the Phoenix Order in India, only to be ambushed and nearly defeated." R.R. continued. "And according to rumor, and an image quickly spreading over the Internet; an unknown knightmare intervened, nearly whipping out the entire Phoenix Order. However, although an enemy to the Phoenix Order, the Shinkiro Conquest does not belong to the UFN."

The camera zoomed out, and a massive black knightmare kneeling behind him suddenly came into view. "It belongs to me. And I am it's pilot."

"He's the pilot?!" Nora exclaimed C.C.'s thoughts.

That's...interesting. She thought.

"I am making it clear to anyone who who dares disrupt this world's order. Be it the UFN, the Phoenix Order it anyone, else, I will destroy you. I am this world's peacekeeper, and not even the power of the FLEIJA can stop me."

He raised his arms in a triumphant manner. "Gideon, Claudious, consider this my declaration of war." With one had he reached inside his coat and pulled out a small object. "With this..." He turned his hand so his palm faced upward, revealing the black king resting in it.

"I call check."

C.C.'s eyes went wide. She stared at him, unable to respond. The second code, the name R.R., the appearance of a myth, a grand speech...

The black king.

"That's impossible." She whispered.

 _Lelouch?_

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 **Shit's going down! All sides are gearing up for war and now R.R. has declared himself an enemy!**

 **But guess what? There won't be a battle next chapter. I know, how could that happen? You'll have to see like...next month or something. I update stuff in order so chapter ten's gonna have to wait its turn.**

 **Till next time!**


	10. The third

**R.R.**

 **The wait is over!**

 **Chapter 10: The Third**

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It was impossible.

And yet, every passing moment she thought about it, the idea made more and more sense. Almost to the point that she felt like hitting herself for not considering it before. Perhaps, had she not been too ashamed to stick around after his death, she might have caught on. She might have even been able to see him, to find out what happened to him. But as the image of his face-the same smug grin, and his brilliant amethyst eyes burned into her mind; she knew with absolute certainty, that it was him.

Lelouch was alive.

Her black king, her precious warlock, whom she never truly cared for until she lost him. Now he was here. He was alive and right in front of her. Yet she knew now more then ever he was out of reach. At first, she had immediately ordered her subordinates to double their efforts to track down R.R., that was of course her reaction. But now that she had the time to truly think of it, she finally came to the grim conclusion that she lost him yet again.

If it wasn't for the fact that he disappeared for an entire century, that she lost contact with him, not even knowing he was alive; it would be the fact that he never found her. All this time she blamed herself for lelouch's fate, knowing full well she was without a doubt the reason he ultimately died for the sake of a peace she knew would never last. And perhaps...he did too.

Did lelouch blame her? Did he spend one hundred and seven years an immortal being in a loathsome hatred for her because of it? She remembered the time he once claimed he was grateful to her, grateful for the opportunity-the gift, to enact his revenge, and forge the world he always wanted. Maybe he was smiling in death, but she knew herself, it isn't a joyous feeling you feel when you first wake up.

So was what she doing even worth anything at all? Her plan, her mission she claimed to be for Lelouch even meaningful at all? So close. She was so close to beginning what would have been the ultimate memorial doubled as a very real solution to a dissolving peace. She really thought it was the right thing to do. But now, after all this time, did she now realize, it was for nothing?

"Mom?"

C.C. halted her train of thought, and looked up at the concerned girl who had likely been watching her the past few minutes. "What is it, Nora?"

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To say things were chaotic would be an understatement. Aleina wasn't exactly certain of the reason why R.R. officially established himself an enemy to the UFN, and in such a public way like that.

Even still, the results were very apparent. The UFN for one thing we're in a complete uproar, what was once just a single enigmatic factor soon became a full scale side of the war all on its own. The Shinkiro itself was more than capable of being considered an army of one, and an army that held no boundaries nor allies was a huge aspect that changed everything. Now it wasn't just a war of two sides, things were a lot more complicated. And everything about R.R. was still shrouded in a mystery that was just who he is. Just as Marellia was currently being bombarded for information and answers by the entire UFN council, Aleina realized there may be a few who knew of her personal connection to R.R. And some of them may come to her for answers as well. Although she wasn't sure how well she could hold out in that kind of interrogation, it wouldn't be too hard to tell them to just go away.

Speaking of interrogating, Marellia was doing surprising well. She still held true to the fact that she was not connected to him, but of course, there were those who wanted more then just that.

"Tell us Marellia, when exactly did you meet R.R.?" Gideon asked calmly, attempting to cool the heated demands others were throwing out.

The older princess let out a puff of breath, taking on the change of tone. "I believe I have mentioned it before, but he first came to me to inform me of the existence of the Phoenix Order's airship. He gave evidence of having infiltrated the ship during the attack on Tokyo, very reliable I should add."

The group nodded, some recalling the first time this was said. Marellia contunued. "It was while I was coming to that conclusion that Pendragon was invaded, and as you all know, he asked to take control of the city defences. Admittedly, I'm not sure why I decided to allow it, I suppose something about his demeanor, that the few of you who have met him would know; just exudes confidence . Almost as if he knows exactly the outcome before anyone even knows what's going on."

Aleina raised an eyebrow, amused at how Marellia seemed to be praising somebody she hadn't shown much appreciation for before. But she believed she knew the reason why Marellia was doing it.

"I guess the reason I'm saying that," Marellia began to explain. "Is simply that this 'R.R.', is not a simple person to be underestimated. It isn't his tactical mind that won Pendragon, nor his connections and skill that fielded the Shinkiro Conquest. The reason he is more dangerous then the Phoenix Order is because he has declared himself an enemy. And someone as intellegent as he, would only do that if they thoroughly believed they had the ability to contest with two individual armies. Because R.R. knows...exactly, what he is doing."

Admittedly, she wasn't exactly certain what Marellia was trying to do anymore. To her, it would have been better to downplay R.R.'s ability to lead the UFN to underestimate him. Or in the least, focus their attention on the Phoenix Order instead. Whatever the reason why she should make him out to be a bigger threat, Aleina had yet to find out.

Eventually her gaze wandered over to that of the four newcomers Gideon introduced as Knights of the Round. Their faces ranged anywhere between carefree to deathly stares that made her shiver. Aleina then realized that they would be her direct opponents. The thought made her shiver yet again as the weight of going up against them came to mind. One of them, the black haired man called Ryan, happened to glance at her. The unsettling look forced her to quickly shift her gaze, and her eyes darted around the room until they rested on yet another person watching her: her brother Daedalus. He stared at her with a piercing gaze that seemed neither hostile nor friendly. It was as if he could see right through her just by looking at her, as if she couldn't hide anything. Aleina involuntarily swallowed as Daedalus slowly rose, his eyes still on her until he finally turned away and walked out of the room, unnoticed by everyone else. It was then that she recalled the time he had seen R.R. With Aleina.

She practically shot up, earning a glance from Marellia, who stood beside her. Aleina looked down, attempting to divert attention from herself as she scooted past the other seated officials and squeezed out of the room.

Once outside the council room, Aleina hurried along the hallways toward where she hoped Daedalus might have gone. She came to a stop as she turned a corner, to not look suspicious should she actually run into him now. As casually as possible, she turned the corner just in time to watch her brother's black coat fall out of sight down another hallway. She continued her pursuit, in a sort of speed walk to catch up. Coming into the hallway Daedalus descended, she jumped as she came face to face with his analytical eyes that were already waiting for her.

"D-daedalus." She stuttered, taking half a step back.

"Aliena." Her brother greeted, no sense of friendship in his tone.

"I...I was meaning to talk to you, I..." Aleina mumbled.

"I see." Daedalus answered, half interrupting her as she muttered to herself. "I was needing to speak to you as well."

"You do?" Aleina asked, surprised. Although she knew full well why.

"About R.R. I do recall once seeing you with him. You don't happen to...have a connection, do you?" His sapphire eyes once again piercing into her, a glimpse of something else inside them just on the surface.

"Of course not. At least, not like that." She answered defensively. Daedalus continued to look at her without speaking.

"I think he was just trying to use me for some reason. If-if you want to know the details, maybe you could learn something?"

Daedalus remained silent a moment, looking at her with those eyes. "I see."

He tugged at his collar, finally breaking his gaze. "That's all I wanted to know."

He began to turn and leave, and Aleina made a split decsion. "W-wait!" She called out.

Her brother stopped, glancing back. It was all she needed. "I want you to answer my questions." She commanded, Geass burning in her eye.

Daedalus suddenly became slack, his tightly knit posture loosened. "Of course."

"What so you know?" She started.

"About what?" Daedalus asked to clarify.

"Me." She put a hand on her chest.

"l am not certain, but I believe you are connected to R.R. Personally, I have a hunch you are the Shinkiro's co-pilot."

Alena blinked, surprised. "Why?"

"You are in my opinion, capable. You may not have connections or ambition, but you still have ability. I recall as much from our childhood." Daedalus spoke.

"What are you going to do about it?" Aleina asked.

"About what?"

Aleina groaned. "Your suspicions."

"I will use my knowledge to my benefit."

Aleina frowned. What does that mean? "You won't tell Gideon?" She wondered.

"l do not trust Gideon. He is an enemy." Daedalus declared.

"You know what Gideon is planning?" Aleina asked, hopeful she could somehow use him as an ally.

"l do." Daedalus answered. "I intend to stop him."

"How?"

"With an army."

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"Lelouch?"

C.C. sighed. "Yes, that's his name."

"Like, the demon emperor?" Nora asked.

"Exactly the same."

Nora frowned. Having been told her mother actually knew who R.R. is, piqued her curiosity. But... "You don't mean...it's the same..."

"R.R. is Lelouch vi Britannia."

Nora took a step back, clearly overwhelmed. "Whoa. H-how?"

C.C. took in a breath, actually nervous to be talking about it. Memories of times long, long ago began to resurface. More than just her sorrow, but everything else. "Lelouch... Lelouch was the last person I ever gave Geass."

Nora cocked her head. "But if you gave him Geass, how does he have a code?"

"I would only guess he somehow obtained the one his father had." C.C. offered, still not certain herself.

"His father...emperor Charles?!" Nora exclaimed.

"There's...a lot about that time you, and a lot of other people never knew. That's exactly how it was supposed to be." C.C. explained.

"So if you gave the demon emperor-"

"His name is Lelouch." C.C. interrupted vehemently. "Don't call him that. Especially not you."

Nora blinked, confused. "Well, if you gave him Geass, does that mean he used it to become the emperor?"

"Yes, but that's not really what he did. Or at least, what he was trying to do."

C.C. looked down, trying to find the strength to tell her daughter one of the most important things to have ever happened in her unnaturally long life. "There is a story you don't know. Something that's been hidden from the whole world almost flawlessly."

She looked at Nora, seeing her try to understand what she meant. "I don't remember Lelouch as the demon emperor, I remembered him as a man who gave everything he had to unify the world under one banner he created."

Nora frowned, already lost.

"Of course, none of that makes sense until I tell you what he really did with my Geass."

Nora's curiosity began to show, and the nervousness C.C. felt was oddly replaced with excitement. She was excited to tell someone just who lelouch really was.

"How he created Zero."

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Marellia slowly walked down the metal staircase leading to the expansive underground warehouse that housed the Shinkiro Conquest, and the two who were sitting next to it.

She looked beyond the black knightmare to see what looked like another frame under construction. Various people were furiously scrambling over it to put it together.

Marellia came to the bottom of the stairs, and approached the long haired man she came to find she could never understand. "I did what you asked. I'm fairly certain the UFN consider you more dangerous than the Phoenix Order."

R.R. hopped up from his chair, while Edmond continued to stare absorbed in his computer beside him. "My thanks Marellia. I think we have Gideon adequately handled for now."

"Can I ask just why you wanted me to say those things?" Marellia questioned. "As well as why you just broadcasted to the entire world who you are."

"Momentarily. First...where's Aleina?" R.R. asked.

"She left half way through the meeting. I'm not sure why. Marellia answered, watching R.R. put a hand to his chin. "She looked frantic, I might add."

"She'll be here shortly I believe. Edmond." The man in question looked up from his computer with a dull expression.

"You did call Stadtfeld here right?" Lelouch asked in confirmation.

Edmond nodded, then immediately returned to his work.

"Well then, we'll just wait for that. Then we can-"

"R.R.!"

Lelouch looked up to see yet another princess making her way toward him. "Ah, Aleina, I've been wondering when you would show up. Good timing."

Aleina shortly reached her contractor, coming face to face with him. "I need to talk to you." She glanced at Marellia. "In private."

Lelouch also looked over to where the older princess stood. And knowing the reason Aleina wanted a private conversation, waved to her. "Can you give us a minute?"

Marellia gave him a look. "For what?"

"You heard her. Private." He emphasized the word, shooing her with his hand.

Marellia rolled her eyes, then wandered over to the second knightmare she noticed coming in.

Lelouch then turned toward Aleina. "What is it?"

"During the council, I happened to notice that Daedalus was staring at me for some reason, and I realized he saw me with you once." Aleina began, speaking quickly.

Lelouch nodded, understanding her apparent nervousness even now.

"I followed him out of the room, and talked to him. He asked me if I knew anything, and I said no of course. But after that he just started to leave."

Lelouch frowned. "What does that matter? Why did you need privacy?"

"Cause I used Geass on him right after, just let me finish." Aleina argued. "I asked him what he knew, and it looks like he's fighting against Gideon too."

He nodded, putting a hand to his chin. "Is it possible to enlist his help then?"

Aleina shook her head. "I don't know. Because right after he said he has an army."

"An army?!" Lelouch exclaimed. "Well, that's certainly an interesting development." He rubbed the back of his head, thinking a moment. "Did he say anything else?"

"No." Aleina answered. "That's all I could get from him."

Lelouch furrowed his brow, trying to decide how to deal with this. It was...frustrating to think that a third group may be entering the fray. Even if they held the same views as he did, it wouldn't work well for what he was planning. And unfortunately, he wasn't going to compromise.

He heard footsteps from yet another person, and looked around to see Isaac had made his way down here as well. "Isaac! Glad to see you made it."

The red headed boy kept walking forward, his eyes affixed on the enormous Shinkiro, and ultimately falling on the half constructed Senchineru beyond it.

"Wonderful isn't it?" Edmond said, finally getting up as someone of interest came.

"It's so big!" Isaac commented on the kneeling pieces of the Senchineru, from which Marellia was approaching to see what was going on. "Who's this?" The princess asked, seeing the young kid for the first time.

Isaac scrambled into a bow upon seeing the princess, which caused Marellia to raise an eyebrow. "Y-your highness! It's an honor!" He spouted.

Lelouch stepped between them, with Marellia looking to him for an explanation.

"This is Isaac Stadtfeld. I found him with the Pendragon defense forces. His skill in a knightmare is considerable." Lelouch explained.

Seeing that all of his companions had arrived, he put his hands together in a clap. "Well, seeing as you're all here, let's say we get some things in order." His posture suddenly changed, revealing that more imposing nature signalling something serious. "I'm certain you want to know what it is I'm doing."

Alina, Marellia and Isaac each nodded, and Lelouch continued. "The world is left in a state of confusion because I have claimed to be a peacekeeper. To them, the UFN are the 'good guys.' They are backed by the world's ambitions and fight against our brilliantly designed foes. That's how Gideon planned it after all. After a few matches however, they may begin to feel torn, primarily depending on if we show superiority on the battlefield, and seem like a more capable force then the UFN.

"Still, earning their trust is only the first part. Edmond and I are beginning to work on a...project of sorts, a weapon to surpass FLEIJA warheads. With it, we will secure our dominece over the UFN and the Phoenix Order. And at last, reveal our true nature as a threat to the entire world."

This earned a response from his companions, each reacting to the absurd idea.

"What do you mean a threat?!" Marellia spoke, with similar thoughts on the other's minds.

"My plan is to become a tyrannical threat looming over the entire world. Then once everyone's fear and hatred are focused on me, and they don't even remember the conflict before, Gideon will make a heroic sacrifice to kill me, and die in the process."

The group gasped in response to the punch line. "You're going to die?" Isaac distressed.

"Are you sure? How do you even know if it will work?" Marellia asked, equally concerned by the steep requirements of the solution."

"Because it has been done before."

A new voice caused everyone to turn to see a old man sporting a golden eye piece approach them.

"Prime minister Gottwald." Marellia greeted the man. "I suppose I was right to believe you were involved as well."

The aged cyborg came to stand beside his liege, earning an awed stare from the red head who came to meet yet another powerful figure of Britannia. "Indeed, I have been acquainted with R.R. for quiet some time now. In fact it was the two of us who came to recognize the necessity for such a drastic plan."

"What do you mean by before?" Aleina asked from the other side of their circle.

"Just think about the details of R.R's plan. What does it remind you of?" Jeremiah told the group.

The three of them all tried to remember something that sounded familiar, unable to think of something.

"The demon emperor." Isaac half guessed.

Marellia shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous."

"No, he's right." R.R corrected her.

"What?!" She exclaimed.

"The circumstances behind the death of Lelouch vi Britannia are greatly altered from what really happened." Jeremiah began to explain. "Namely how he staged his own death."

Aleina's eyes went wide. "He...what?"

"The entire scenario was arranged to usher in an era of peace following his death. Much in the very same way R.R. Wishes to resolve this conflict now."

Marellia rubbed her forehead, overwhelmed by the revelation. "There's no way that was orchestrated. That doesn't even make sense."

Jeremiah looked at R.R., almost as if asking permission, before continuing. "The plan known as the Zero Requiem was brought to fruition by Lelouch and his knight Suzaku Kururugi. The goal was to gather the entirety of the world's hatred upon himself, uniting them under one tyrannical rule. Then, once everything was complete, and nothing else stood in his way, all that was left was to die. And all the world's anger was erased. The world could move on working together; using the unity Lelouch brought them to create the era peace we have enjoyed up until now."

They all remained silent, taking in the enormous revelation that literally changed everything they knew. The world they lived was built around the death of Lelouch vi Britannia, yet it was just now they realized exactly how.

"But, do you really need to die?" Marellia asked.

Lelouch exchanged glances with his loyal knight, a smirk on his lips. "Oh, I'm not worried about that at all."

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Much later that night, Isaac finally made his way back home, or at least to go pick some things up. Apparently, the Senchineru was far enough along that Mr. Calvaire wanted him there full time. As such, Isaac found that he would be staying with R.R. at their facility until it was completed.

He stepped out of the car R.R. drove him over with, and after checking that no one was around, waved for R.R. to accompany him inside to help with his things. It was really unfortunate that every one of his allies were people you shouldn't exactly be seen with in public.

Immediately upon exiting the car, Lelouch felt something strange. It wasn't something he could describe past what the few experiences he had linked to a code. Like when he first received his Geass. A surreal feeling of a supernatural kind he could only guess was the effect of his code.

He kept his eyes open as Isaac unlocked the door and stepped inside, following him into the small hallway. Deciding not to be seen by Isaac's sister, he opted to stay by the door. He waited a moment while the boy went in to grab some things.

Until he heard him scream.

Instinctively, Lelouch rushed through the hall and into the kitchen, where he saw just why Isaac screamed. He saw the young girl he identified as Isaac's sister lying on the ground, an effectively made incision across her neck pooring fresh blood onto the floor.

Isaac dropped in horror, scooping Annie into his arms. Lelouch himself felt a sense of dread as similar memories rushed through his mind. He hit himself, trying to shake it off. Glancing around, he saw the open window with curtains blowing in the wind. He rushed past Isaac, scrambling through the window and into the dark alleys. To his surprise, he found a shadowy figure at the end of the alley, their silhouette illuminated by the glow of the streets.

Lelouch approached the figure, seeing what looked like a grin upon his face.

"Who are you?!" Lelouch demanded.

The man grinned even wider, looking like a demon. "So it looks like you did come, how nice."

"Answer me!" Lelouch shouted.

"You can call me Z.Z."

Lelouch froze. Hearing the name, that only meant one thing. A third. "What do you want?"

Z.Z. laughed. "All I'm doing is disrupting the mental state of your new pilot. I can't have you messing with my plans can I?"

He began to back away, turning from him.

"Lelouch."

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 **Let me make a deal with you all. I will post the next chapter of R.R. within one week of receiving fifty reviews to this story. There's enough of you that I think that's fair enough. But two words, or "cool story bro." Don't count. Put some effort into it.**

 **I'll let you all know how it's progressing in my bio.**


	11. Memories

**R.R.**

 **Here's a chapter when I promised one. You guys got to 40, so thanks for all the support!**

 **Chapter 11: Memories**

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The memory was still just as vivid now as it was before him that night. Everywhere, all over her. She was covered in blood, so much blood. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the same thing. Every waking moment, the blood filled his vision.

Why? Why would someone kill her? Why would someone take the life of his innocent little sister? He knew why. It was because of him. Because he chose to fight. It was always the same, you saw it on books all the time. The hero's weakness is the ones he loves, and fails to protect.

Isaac failed her. And now she was dead Annie was gone, and it was all his fault.

"Isaac."

He didn't look up, knowing R.R. Had been calling him well more than a few times. Instead he continued to state at his hands. Hands that were washed long ago, but he still sae the blood. The blood that would never wash away.

"Isaac!"

He suddenly registered the force of R.R.'s palm slam against his face, forcing him out of his little world. Shocked, he looked up at R.R., and saw a face he couldn't read at all.

"Your sister is gone. And there is nothing that can change that." He told Isaac, who continued to stare at him with a bewildered look. Lelouch looked at him with pained eyes. He really did understand what Isaac was going through. When he thought Nunnally had died, his whole world collapsed around him. But he also knew the best remedy to snap him out of it. And it was not playing nice.

"The only the things you can determine now is what you are going to do about it."

He could start to see the wheels returning inside Isaac's head, and hoped he was at least somewhat getting through. "Right now you have two choices. You can wallow in your remorse, and do nothing. Or, you can get up and avenge your sister."

Isaac seemed to be listening to what Lelouch said, and the dull glazed look in his eyes had faded.

"Listen to me. Your sister was killed by someone who thinks you stand in the way of their plans. Do you know what that means?" Lelouch wasn't looking for an answer, just to see if he was paying attention, which he was.

"It means you stand in his way. And right now you have the option to stay in his way, or stay on your ass."

Lelouch, stood in front of him for a moment. "You decide."

Deciding himself that it was time to leave him to think, Lelouch turned to exit.

"Who killed her?"

Lelouch stopped when he heard the question, and he knew he had no right to withhold the answer. "Someone who called himself Z.Z."

He turned around to face Isaac, who looked at back at him with hard eyes. "That sounds like your name."

He wasted no time coming to that conclusion, and it left Lelouch debating just what to tell the red head.

"It does." He chose to say.

"Why?"

"The truth behind that isn't something you would want to know." Lelouch warned.

"I don't care." Isaac responded.

 _Neither would I._

With everything that happened to him, he deserved to know the truth, no matter how Lelouch thought he would accept it. It was a huge risk he knew, but for the boy he dragged into this, he would be willing to accept that risk. Because he knew what kind of hell that loss was.

"Z.Z. and I...are immortal."

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Aleina sat by herself in the copilot's seat of the Shinkiro. She was more than apprehensive about the tension building up each day. Demands were constantly being thrown for answers, and for blood. And from what she could tell, a fight was coming closer by the second. The UFN had prepared a fleet three times the size than at India. And even though the Shinkiro coouls rear through airships like paper, the same couldn't be said for the four Knights of the Round Gideonnwas bringing to the table. Things weren't looking good, and she wasn't about to leave it up to R.R. to handle things himself.

It was pretty clear to her that he wasn't the kind of person to ask others for help, even if he really needed it. And it was quite possible she was only there because R.R. couldn't use Geass himself.

As such, she wanted to find some way to be useful herself. And besides learning what Daedalus was up to, she came up with a few plans of her own this time around. She had earlier Geassed her way into the Camelot industries hangars for the new Knights, and outside of retrieving data on the specifications on the Tristan Journey, Gallahad Maruader, Mordred Titan and Percival Inquisitor; she was able to download program feedback arrays that would aid in predicting the pilot's path in order to better use the shatter sphere, as well as battle them all head on. Unfortunately, she was unable to plant explosives, or simply sabotage them because she also happened to learn the frames were inspected an incredulous amount of times each day. The bugs she planted were the only thing that wouldn't be detected by malware scanners. She sometimes wished she could just tell someone to ignore a bomb planted in the frame, but her Geass had limits, and they were unfortunately drawn there.

Aleina sighed, and stretched out over the seat, having finished downloading the receivers into the Shinkiro's systems. She had recently heard about what happened to Isaac's sister, and subsequently about Z.Z., who she passed was another code bearer, whom R.R. knew absolutely nothing about. She too worried if Z.Z. was in collaboration with Gideon, or a sperate entity that would add yet another layer to this complicated mess to sort out. How could am immortal even be dealt with? It made her remember the capsule she first found R.R. in. It was some sort of decide for preserving something inside of it, but that wouldn't be necessary of its content was an immortal being. So was it meant for trapping them? Then in that case, what was R.R. doing in there? It wouldn't make sense that someone stuck him in there, because she had been told it was a fail-safe, not a prison.

She continued to think over it as Marellia approached the open cockpit of the Shinkiro. Seeing that someone was inside, the older princess called out. "Aleina? Is that you?"

Aleina perked up at hearing Marellia, and peeked over the side of the cockpit to see her half sister down below. "Marellia, what are you doing here? Isn't there a UFN meeting right now?" She asked.

Marellia rolled her eyes. "The eighth one sister R.R.'s declaration. Not one of them has made any progress. And quite frankly, I'm done with them."

Alina nodded. The one she went to was being enough. She couldn't imagine going to eight of them.

"I came to check on Stadtfeld. I heard what happened. Is he alright?" Marcella added, concerned.

Aleina frowned. "He's okay."

"Do we know who did it?"

She shook her head. "No, R.R. barely saw them escape." She opted not to tell Marellia about Z.Z., since she didn't know about Geass.

"I see."

After a long silence, and Marellia shifting uncomfortably below Aleina, the older princess spoke again. "It must bring up bad memories for you." Marellia said. "Of your family."

Faces flashed through her mind. Her brother, her mother. And the man who killed them. The man who got away without even a slap on the wrist. It wasn't pain she felt at the recollection, but resentment. Something she imagined Isaac now felt as well.

"Yes. It does."

She would never forget that. The one who killed her mother, and her brother who died trying to protect her. It had been years, but she still remembered.

And she still hated him.

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To say he was feeling nostalgic would be an understatement.

As he approached the doors that opened into the Commons, and passed by all the classrooms, and saw the giant bell tower, more than just a few memories of his old life came flooding back..

Isaac had insisted he return to Ashford to retrieve his sister's things there. And lelouch had insisted he accompy him, still completely unsure what Z.Z. may try next.

He wore a face mask the changed his appearance to that of an average student. It was the same kind Sayokononfe used to masquerade as him when he needed to be Zero without suspicion. It felt weird around his face, but he eventually got used to it.

"I won't be too long. The teachers already gathered of her things. They were told she's transferring." Isaac spoke beside him.

Lelouch tugged at the high collar of the school uniform he hasn't worn in over a century. And just now realized the 99th emperor of Britannia never finished high school. Who said you can't go places without an education?

"That's fine. I'll be able to sense Z.Z. If he gets near. So I'll just be nearby." Lelouch watched Isaac separate from him, and head down another hall.

As far as he could tell, the boy took the truth he had to offer well. Or at least better then his great grandmother first did. He hadn't spared any details. Isaac now knew everything. Isaac didn't comment on Lelouch's identity, and now he was extremely grateful Jeremiah had convinced him to allow his companions to know what his plan was. But for some part, it was beneficial, especially with a potential code bearer who knew who Lelouch was.

It was the last thing Z.Z. said to him that bothered him the most. It made sense, that if Z.Z. had a code he would have been around for possibly centuries. And the name R.R. would have immediately struck alarms to any code bearer. So how much did Z.Z. know? And what was he planning? This completely unknown enigma only infuriated Lelouch. Every little detail of his plan had to be worked out. And he couldn't do that with these dammed nuisances popping up like fucking cockroaches.

He let out an angry breath, suddenly realizing he had been wandering around aimlessly the whole time. Or rather, not so aimlessly. He had managed to unconsciously make his way to where he lived at Ashford one hundred years ago.

It was clear to him that no one had been around here, or at least used the area; for a long time. A heavy amount of dust had settled on everything around him, and the air felt musky. There were parts of the school that weren't in use when he went here, and apparently they stayed that way this whole time.

A huge knot on his stomach formed as he shakily reached out for the knob. His hand brushed against it, wiping away the collected dust atop it. Coming in to the room, he remembered Rivalz once telling him that his room was destroyed in the FLEIJA bombing. And he realized this wasn't the same room he spent five years living peacefully with Nunnally in.

However, that didn't mean it looked any different than how he remembered it. It was still the same place. The color on the walls had long since faded, and the lack of at least five paper cranes scattered about left it rather bare. A sad smile found its way onto Lelouch's face. One hundred years.

He had lived over a century ago, and now he came to see just what happened in all that time. The color in his world had faded away. And the wishes of his sister finally granted.

"Did you finally fold a thousand cranes Nunnally?"

 _Because I did._

"Well at least one of us got our wish."

The voice wasn't his own.

Suddenly everything around him was enveloped in a bright light. The room was gone, and his senses were overloaded while he tried to make sense of what was going on.

But then just as abruptly, it was gone. And everything was silent. He blinked a few times, confused by the blue skies and cloudy ground his feet were touching.

"Where-"

His breath hitched in his throat. His whole body froze as his eyes were fixed on the person standing in front of him. She was much older, her hair more or less the same; and...and she was...

"Hello, Lelouch."

She was standing.

"Nu-"

He couldn't speak. Whatever logical part of his brain was still functional wasn't enough to form any words.

"I'm so sorry Lelouch, for everything that happened back then."

He continued to stare at her, his mind trying to find the deception, trying to tell his eyes they were wrong.

"I'm so sorry I told you I hated you. That I couldn't see what you were trying to do. I'm sorry that you had to go through everything all alone. That you had to sacrifice yourself for the rest of us. I'm...I'm sorry that I was so selfish."

The spirit before him gave him a small smile. "And I'm sorry that I have to ask you again to help us. This is the world that you created, and the world God decided is yours to protect. You live on to make sure the rest of us don't ruin it again. Because you were the only one who could see the world for what it really was. And what it really needed."

She began to fade away. Her face dissolving into the growing light that that threatened to take her from him.

"The future of this world belongs to you too. Big brother."

The light filled his vision, and the image of sister was gone. He found himself on his knees, back in the faded room. The mask he was wearing had fallen from the saturation of his tears.

He stayed there unmoving for a long time, and whispered a single word.

"Nunnally."

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This was very bad.

Jeremiah began franticly searching for the phone buried somewhere on the desk overflowing with charts and papers planted in the middle of his office. On his computer, was an image of the emperor of Britannia.

Finally pulling out the device, he dialed the top number. An eye on the video still playing, he tapped his foot impatiently.

"Yes?" Jeremiah heard, absently noting the strange tone in his voice.

"Lelouch, look at a TV. We have a situation."

Things were about to get very chaotic.

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In a worldwide broadcast, the Unites Federation of Nations finally had there answer to the man who claimed to be their adversary.

"R.R.!" Gideon ce Britannia exclaimed.

"You say you are the peacekeeper of this war for freedom, you say you have declared war against us. Then you know that makes you an enemy to the will of the world! Hear me now R.R.! We accept your declaration! If it's a war you want, then you shall have it! If you are indeed what you say you are, then prove yourself now! Meet us face to face, and we shall see just who is the conduit of justice!"

The camera changed to show the entirety of the UFN's fleet over the ocean, a small glimpse of land in the background. "We shall await your arrival at the coast of Tokyo, in Japan. If you are what you say you are; come to face us!"

Lelouch watched as the video cut to the UFN emblem, signalling the message was over. He now suddenly realized that what Nunnally said was true. Just as he called himself a peacekeeper, it was his duty to defend this world from those who would seek to stagnate it's future. He silently thanked her for her message sent by God, as he called up his pit crew.

"Edmund, ready the Shinkiro. And what you can with the Senchineru."

 _If you want a fight Gideon, I'll give you one. But you don't know who you're dealing with._

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 **Next time you get a full on battle! It's gonna be great n' stuff.**

 **Till next time!**


	12. The Imposter

R.R.

Chapter 12: The Imposter

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"I can't allow you to do this!"

Lelouch continued to walk toward the awaiting Shinkiro, ignoring the pestering woman beside him.

"This is far too dangerous, Gideon will kill you and Aleina without hesitation." Marellia continued to argue.

"I am not required to listen to your opinion, Marellia." Lelouch finally replied. "Nor will I be taking into account what you think I should do."

The older princess stopped, her baffled face soon turned into rage. As a princess of Britannia, she was hardly accustomed to being outright ignored. "Who do you think you are?!"

He hesitated just a moment before making his way up the ramp set beside the kneeling frame; and looked back only a moment. "Who do _you_ think I am?"

Lelouch left her with the question as he stepped into the Shinkiro, where Aleina was already waiting in the other seat behind him.

"I know how hard it must be." He spoke to her over the roar of the Yggdrasil core coming to life. "But you're going to have to get used to being second to me Marellia."

She looked at him incredulously, baffled by his statement. But before she could respond, the hatch closed over him, and the Shinkiro rose through the open roof without a moment's delay. Marellia frowned. "Who do you think I am…?" She muttered to herself.

And it was only then did she realize she had no idea who he was. Or rather, just now did it sink in that R.R. was a complete enigma to her. Even his name was unknown. And the reason he was trying to fight Gideon, unknown to her. His own plan required his life be forfeit in the end, and she had no idea why he would go through with it. In fact the only outcome she came to see was that R.R. would be in control of the entire world through the power of whatever weapon he and Calvaire were coming up with. The weapon to surpass FLEIJA warheads.

Was he... just using them? Marellia scowled. Even if he went so far as to explain to them what he was planning, it didn't explain why he was doing this, or anything about him at all. Aleina was the one to first make contact with R.R. although she had been rather tight lipped about their original encounter. Marellia had been so wrapped up in the sudden conspiracy she hadn't stopped to really think about what was going on.

Marellia turned sharply away from the empty hangar. If the answers were not to be told to her, she would find them for herself.

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Gideon stood on the bridge of the Godwyn, overlooking the Tokyo Bay where his fleet was positioned. The UFN had somehow managed to pull together a vast number of civilian airships, and refitted them to military capabilities. And despite the fact that the Shinkiro clearly tore through airships like paper, it was the intimidation factor at play here. Both to R.R. and to Cladious. That and the twenty three retrofitted airships and six fully armed combat airships showed the world the UFN was not dead just yet. But in the end, all that really mattered were the four knightmares hovering in front of the line of ships. The Knight of One's Tristan Journey at the helm. The vanguard that would be the first – and hopefully last – opponent R.R. would ever face.

That's if he showed up.

Gideon had high hopes, no, hardly doubted R.R. would come. He was a man whose image was everything. A trait Gideon first saw when he happened to pass him by in Pendragon. The man walked and spoke with a certain charismatic charm previously found only in the Britannian royalty. A family bred from birth to live in the spotlight. And although Britannia's presence and power has since been dulled, it was during the time of emperor Charles, and the subsequent Demon Emperor that the family truly knew what it meant to carry an image. And Gideon felt that R.R. was the very personification of that past. It was evident in the way he declared himself an enemy to the world, by becoming its self-declared peacekeeper.

That was something Gideon still couldn't quite figure out. He recalled the time he offered R.R. a place in the UFN's military, what was once the Black Knights, but now nothing worthy of the name in his opinion. R.R. had refused that offer. He claimed that the present situation would put a strain on his plans. At the time Gideon felt his offer so unorthodox that the refusal hadn't meant too much. But now...how long was R.R. planning this? Since before the Phoenix Order? For what purpose? It still had not escaped him that R.R. was merely a nickname. That the man who used the name was a complete mystery. One that apparently no one on earth knew about. Oh how quickly things spiraled out of control.

 _What's a name other than a way to call someone from a crowd?_  
The riddled response that R.R. once gave him the first time he spoke to him. R.R. hadn't wanted him to know who he was. And even still, doesn't want anyone to know. His face is plastered all over the globe and yet...why?

He frowned, still staring out into the sea. They had been here several hours now, and the anticipation was thick in the air. His officers surrounding him tugging at their collars, sweat rolling down their foreheads. Gideon hadn't brought along Daedalus or Marellia, hadn't even informed the latter until he announced it worldwide. He still wasn't sure if he could trust his sister. There had to be a different reason she would simply allow him control of Pendragon. Another mystery he couldn't even begin to unravel. Regardless, he was the Britannian emperor. Leadership was his blood. He had made a naive mistake at India. But now he knew better, and this fight was on his terms.

"We're picking up a signal ahead your majesty."

The words cutting through the silence only served to increase the tension. And Gideon saw the little red dot making its way toward their line. "Lady Weinberg," he spoke, the image of the blonde woman hovering on a monitor to his side.

"Yes, your majesty?" She responded.

"I leave him to you."

She saluted, the rest of the rounds following suit could be seen on their own screens. "Consider it done."

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The trip was a silent one, but hardly long enough to call it awkward. They were after all, based in the outer rim of Japan's urban areas. What was once a Black Knight headquarters back in the day. However, to keep that fact hidden, Lelouch deliberately delayed their arrival, circling around the island nation to come at the UFN directly from the front. "We're going to be there soon."

Behind him, Aleina nodded. She had been preparing herself for a far more personal battle. India had been one sided, practically a slaughter when you compared the power of the Shinkiro against the flimsy Evalyns the Phoenix Order had. But this would be different. Their opponent would be the Knights of the round. And even with the precautions she had put in place, their victory was unsure. At least to her.

The amount of airships the UFN had was ridiculous. They all knew how pointless it was. The long line of floating tax dollars weren't going to do much of anything if they really needed to defend themselves. They simply weren't fast enough to defend, or to take out an advanced knightmare. No, the only threat was the one right in front of them. The Tristan's blue and gold frame looked much the same as the original, with only updates in its performance and arsenal. That and it's fortress mode had been ditched in order to make the frame more durable. Too many moving parts made the first Tristan vulnerable in a lot of places.

"R.R.!" Its pilot called out. In turn, the frame rose the strange double edged staff with what seemed to be maser vibration technology attached to the ends. "I am-"

"Vivian Weinberg, knight of one." Lelouch interrupted. "I know who you are."

Inside the Tristan, the knight twitched. "You have dared to challenge the rightful order of this world, and you set yourself up as its replacement." She swung her staff out in front of her, bringing it to a combat stance. "Now, prepare to face me!"

Lelouch laughed, the Shinkiro still vulnerably unmoved. "You think to face me alone? How noble...and foolish of you."

Vivian smirked. "Hardly." Out of nowhere, a blinding object sailed past the Shinkiro, only to be met with the perfectly calculated defense field. Struggling to break the shield, was the steel gray Galahad Marauder. It had attempted to catch him off guard, but the little surprises found deep inside the frames system never gave the pilot the opportunity.

"Knight of Two. Ryan Heybourne. So good to see you join the party." Lelouch lashed out, a blood red lance that hadn't been there before moving through the instantly dissipated defense field. The Galahad pulled away, narrowly avoiding the lethal looking spear. He moved away from the imposing frame, and toward where his allies, the Percival Inquisitor and Mordred Titan has formed around their Knight of One.

"Do you like my toy?" Lelouch asked, waving the lance around. "It's called a Hadron Spear." He pointed the spear toward the group, and from it a familiar red glow emanated before a hadron beam fired from it. The Knights dodged it easily enough, but not the immediate lunge that followed. The spear raked through the torso of the heavy Mordred; and though the damage was minimal, the glowing gash seemed to be sizzling quite angrily. And little red sparks ate away at the metal frame, growing the hole for a moment before fading.

Behind them, R.R. spun the glowing Hadron spear. "The first weapon to implement Hardon technology into physical material. Material with acidic properties reaching rather absurd levels. That is the Shinkiro's featured weapon."

He rose the spear, and let out a sweeping beam, causing the group to scatter, in which they followed up by descending on his position from all angles. In response, Lelouch sunk the spear back into the Shinkiro's forearm, where it had been summoned, and activated the shatter sphere. The rapid fire shots did little to impede the progress of the four ace pilots. And when they closed in on his position, the ring suddenly detached, the eight guns connected to his sent flying toward the four enemy frames.

Surprised, the Knights simply side stepped the discarded weapons, until they exploded next to them. The combined explosion was big enough to cover the area encompassing all the combatants. And while stunned, the Percival suddenly found a lance protruding from its torso.

"Damn...it." Alex muttered, before the knight of four's frame erupted, the ejected pod sailing toward the UFN fleet.

"How many tricks does this guy have?!" Enna exclaimed from her damaged Mordred.

Vivian scowled. Apparently quite a few. R.R. clearly favored them at a distance, and he had no problems keeping them there. She wasn't naive enough to believe that shatter sphere stunt was a one trick pony. That's what he wanted them to believe. The Shinkiro was huge; and it would not surprise her to learn there were several additional weapons carried by it.

They had to come up with something fast. If they lost here the fleet would be done for. They would not lose here, because this is where she had to prove herself; prove that her family was worthy of the title they carried for so many generations. So now was the time.

"Ryan! Enna! Get as close to R.R. as you can! Don't back down no matter what!" She in turn did the same, rushing the black giant and it stared them down, two spears now in hand. They had been far too cautious. Too afraid to commit to the fight. They were supposed to be the best of the best, but they were practically cowardly fools. So now they would go all in. Victory or defeat.

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They aren't going to stop!" Aleina shouted, watching from the back seat as three knightmares recklessly barreled towards them. It had been up until now their strategy to keep them far away enough to utilize the arsenal the Shinkiro possessed. Weapons that were meant to level battlefields more than face a single frame. If they weren't going to back down, that would be a problem.

Lelouch swung one spear at the oncoming Tristan, where it was intercepted by her Maser Staff. The Mordred than smashed into the Shinkiro, it's heavy arms outfitted with layered plating designed for such melee tactics. Thrown off balance, Lelouch brought up a spear to counter the Galahad's arcing sword. It was knocked aside, and passed around the miscalculated defense field; the sword cut cleanly through one of the Shinkiro's float wings, barely missing the cockpit.

Destabilized, Lelouch gnashed his teeth together. A fight like this was much more difficult to win. He fired two slash harkens from the Shinkiro's hips, now understanding the reason for the strange positioning as he drove a spear toward the Galahad unimpeded. The spear crashed through Ryan's blaze luminous, the radiant shield being to primitive to withstand the lance.

The attack cut through his frame's arm, yet the knight of two grinned. He grabbed hold of the lance at the head's base with his free arm, and yanked it forward. The Shinkiro was quick to let go of the spear, but not quick enough to block the Tristan against its now defenseless left flank. It's staff crashed into the black frame's left shoulder, and sent the Shinkiro reeling back. Using the small gap between them, Lelouch retrieved another spear from the Shinkiro's forearm, and prepared for another round.

The Mordred hunkered down, and came forward in a head on charge. Lelouch brought a spear down in front of him, wary of the other two frames moving to his flanks. Yet just before the Mordred was on top of him, it suddenly wasn't.

The large red frame was careening toward the sea, trying to regain control, and apparently missing an arm. And in the distance, a new knightmare hovered above them.

"Ah, just in time." Lelouch said to the newcomer. Ryan and Vivian watched as the rather peculiar frame descend to stand beside the Shinkiro.

"I'm sorry it took so long. Mr. Calvaire took some convincing to allow me to use the Senchineru." Isaac explained.

"It's fine. No, your timing couldn't be more perfect." Lelouch grinned.

The Senchineru stood between the combatants, a four-armed frame outfitted with its own Hardon Lances, and two arms that seemed to fulfill only the purpose of being massive shields that flanked the frame's upper half. The two arms came together to form one large shield in front of the knightmare, and the other two arms' lances protruded from the sides.

"What is that thing?" Vivian commented. And no sooner was the question answered when the Senchineru darted out, smashing into Vivian's Tristan. She held her staff out in front of her to impede the giant menace that was crushing her, but quickly realized her frame's power was heavily outmatched. Ryan attempted to attack the knightmare, but was countered by one of its free arm lances, and Isaac continued to crush Vivian into nothing.

She finally backed away, knowing there was no way to beat that thing in a contest of brute strength. Instead, she, Ryan, and the now one armed Mordred, exchanged blows with the seemingly impenetrable frame. All the while Lelouch stood like an emperor watching a gladiator match. Which technically was exactly what was going on.

Whenever the Senchineru felt like lashing out, one of them suffered a heavy hit. And it's inconsistent attacks added a surprise factor that caught them off guard every time it was their turn to suffer. Where the Shinkiro was designed to face hundreds. The Senchineru was purely one on one combat. Or rather, three on one still didn't make a difference. The two frames complimented each other in battle nearly perfectly.

As Lelouch watched the Galahad take its third hit, he smirked. Isaac was performing astoundingly. His Q-1 never let him down. And now that this battle was all but undecided, he looked inward toward the Godwyn, where Gideon was watching the battle take place. It was also where he saw out of nowhere two airships on the far flanks erupt in flames as they were hit with long range artillery fire.

He frowned, turning around to find what caused the attack. And that's when things took a much surfer the turn than he was expecting.

A second line of airships, much smaller, but much more deadly, was approaching from the sea. In the front was an airship that Lelouch instantly recognized. The symbol on its nose one he knew very well. The symbol he created.

The airship was the Ikaragua.

"People of the world. I… am Zero!"

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In front of the new airships, the Black Knight's airships, was a line of Akatsukis. In the center, a brightly colored frame of the same model. Atop it stood the masked man himself, cape billowing in the wind, as he stretched his arm toward the group of knightmares fighting in front of him.

"Long have I watched this world slowly fall into chaos. Corrupted rulers and ambitious leaders seek to take from those what they desire and leave it in ruin. So today I shall rid the world of its disease. The cancer that had spread to the heart of our world! Today we shall be free!"

His knightmares consecutively charged toward the wave of Vincent's guarding the UFN ships, and in a matter of moment, a full scale battle had ensued. Leading the charge, was a bright red frame with two clawed hands. A frame that's name coincided with the Black Knights. The Guren mark III.

From inside the Shinkiro, Lelouch was seething. Who the _fuck_ dared to use Zero like that?! He had no doubt that it was Daedalus. Thanks to Aleina he was privy that bit of knowledge. Just who did he think he was?! That...that imposter was going to get a lesson well deserved for this outrageous slander of Zero. Of the symbol of freedom he once created.

He began to charge toward the Ikaragua, his vision centered dead ahead on the fancy Akatsuki in front of it. With a spear in hand, he drove forward to impale it, watching the frame sidestep away, and jab at his own knightmare in turn. He growled; he wasn't paying enough attention to realize Zero could see him coming from literally a mile away. He forced himself to calm down. Zero-no Daedalus, was going down.

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Isaac was ecstatic. The Senchineru was the perfect tool in his hand. The perfect extension of himself. He watched with glee as the frame pummeled anything he looked at. This is what he always wanted, the strength to protect. He found it laughable the frame was called 'sentinel.' He who failed to protect the only thing that he cared about.

Now all that was left was revenge. Against Gideon, for creating this war, and against Z.Z. For taking his sister from him. Even if the man could not die, he would suffer. Suffer for all that he did. He was grateful to R.R. Contrary to what the young man thought of himself, having blamed him dragging Isaac into this mess what caused his sister's death. That might have been true, but in the end, she was already dead in a way.

Dead because he could not protect her. Sooner or later it would have happened, he knew it. He was already a member of the military, his own path put Annie in danger. All R.R. did was prepare him for the inevitable.

The Knights of the Round had since abandoned their attack against him, having retreated to defend the UFN line against the new onslaught of Akatsukis barreling down on them. He didn't bother to pursue, having found interest in a new target. The red knightmare in front of him was the spitting image of the frame he read about in old war history books.

The Guren.

This one was sporting not one, but two gleaming clawed arms that he recognized as radiant wave surgers. He knew well enough to stay away from those destructive claws. Unfortunately, that seemed to be all the Guren really had going for it. Even the pilot appeared to be failing to effectively utilize the Guren's specs. Missed opportunities to counter attack, poorly executed maneuvers and terrible defense left it a pretty one sided battle.

The only reason the Guren wasn't in pieces was because of Isaac's curiosity. Surely their new opponent had a better pilot than this one.

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Lelouch had spent several minutes fighting Zero, and had been getting nowhere. The pilot seemed to be reading his movements, and countering them perfectly. Which only served to further enrage him. He knew that his state of mind was...compromised; yet it still frustrated him that he could not land a hit against the damnable knightmare.

"R.R." Zero spoke, in the exact automated voice Lelouch once used to strike fear at the heart of Britannia. "This fighting is unnecessary."

Lelouch scoffed. "Is that so?" He stuck once more at the Akatsuki, again being deflected by it.

"You and I share a common enemy. We have no need to be fighting each other."

He laughed, the Shinkiro's head coming to stare down Zero's frame. "You're wrong there."

Zero pushed back, putting distance between the two of them. "Why is that?"

"Because you bother me." He responded.

Zero fired his wrist mounted Hadron cannon, where it bounced off the defense field. Using it as a distraction he came forward to smash against the Shinkiro. "Don't be a fool! You alone are not enough to eliminate Gideon!"

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. "Is that what you think?" He pressed back, steel colliding against steel. "I disagree!"

The battle continued to rage on around them, Lelouch furiously trying to fight someone who was clearly better at piloting, only reluctant to fight back for whatever reason. It annoyed him. That this man was clearly a better pilot and yet the battle was perfectly conducted around him. It was impossible to think that he could be doing both things at once.

And then it suddenly hit him. He turned to watch the Guren in the distance, the frame having a difficult time fending off Isaac's blurring attacks. The glorified Akatsuki in front of him fought better than the Guren did. The imposter pilot never missed a beat, even when ordering the hundreds of knightmares flying in extremely organized patterns; their tactics changed constantly.

Lelouch himself was incapable of such a feat in a traditional knightmare, as it required a completely different skill set. There was only one person he ever knew with such a remarkable gift; someone Daedalus certainly didn't emulate. Xingke was both a tactician and a warrior. Daedalus may have been cunning; but from what Aleina knew, he was no mastermind.  
Which meant...

"Oh, that's quite the brilliant plan you've come up with." Lelouch spoke over the open comm, earning an unseen frown from his opponent. "You may be the man in charge, but you are not the king."

He detached another shatter sphere, letting the bombs distract Zero. "Isaac, hold that Guren still for me would you?"

The Shinkiro's chest opened up, revealing the deadly weapon shared by its predecessor. Isaac made another passing sweep at the Guren, temporarily knocking it off balance. But just before he could fire however, a brightly colored Akatsuki slammed into his Shinkiro. Zero's frame continued to fly into the off target beam, effectively losing its bottom half, and was sent careening into the deck of the Black Knight's Ikaragua.

"That was... unexpected." Aleina commented behind him, and Lelouch nodded in agreement.

He brought the Shinkiro in a descent toward the smoking remains of Zero's Akatsuki; absently noting the Guren desperately trying to get past Isaac and to the wreckage he was approaching. He landed in front of the frame, opening his cockpit to stand triumphantly over his opponent.

"Is the queen so readily able to sacrifice herself for her king?" He asked mockingly from his Shinkiro.

"But the queen's sacrifice marks the turning point of the war." Zero's cockpit opened, and from it emerged a woman with short green hair.

"Isn't that right, Lelouch?"

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	13. Reunion

**R.R.**

 **Chapter 13: Reunion**

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Lelouch was at a complete loss for words.

When he really thought about it, he should have suspected to run into the witch sooner or later. And as much as he hated to admit, he really was trying to forget about her. It would have made it easier for him when he completed his mission. But now, it seemed he would never be able to escape her.

She strode forward, her face as unreadable as ever. She always was the one person he could never understand. She wore an outfit nearly identical to the black and silver one he had for her in the Black Knights. And considering the organization she was apparently a part of, it was hardly out of place. But her hair had been cut. Significantly shorter, and parted to reveal the sigil emblazoned on her forehead. With a stone cold expression, she came face to face with Lelouch in front of the Shinkiro. She looked directly at Lelouch, seeing his stunned face as the two stood in silence. Then, out of nowhere, her palm came into contact with his face.

Lelouch reeled back, mostly out of shock. A hundred things were racing through his mind, but the prospect of being slapped wasn't one of them.

"How could you?"

He blinked, glancing at her more or less furious expression. Certainly not what he expected out of this at all.

"You left without saying anything, without telling me where you were. Or even bothering to mention that you were alive?" C.C. demanded with more emotion then she probably ever showed in her life.

"I-That was never meant to be the outcome. I was supposed to die back then." Lelouch stuttered as he defended himself. "I didn't want to involve anyone with my life anymore. So I disappeared."

"Until now." C.C. stated the obvious in an accusatory tone. "So that includes me too then? Haven't I always been there to help you?"

Lelouch looked down to avoid her gaze. His hands clenched tightly, as he felt for the first time in a long time such genuine guilt. He had hoped to spare her the knowledge that it was ultimately her fault that he now suffered the same curse she had for countless centuries more. "You were the one to give me geass with the condition that I end your life. But I ended up with my father's code instead. In short I failed that contract. I can't fulfill your wish."

C.C. gave a small smirk. She placed her hand under his chin to force him to look at her. "You're the only one who can fulfill my one desire. The one you found for me."

She pressed her lips again this, earning another startled look from Lelouch. She only held it a moment, before breaking away to instead hug him as tightly as she could. "You should be lucky my initial shock was spent days ago. I had plenty of time to sort through how I felt at seeing you again. So now I know what I'm going to say." She spoke into his ear, feeling his arms wrap around her as well. "You are my reason to continue living, so please, don't ever leave me again."

Lelouch smiled. A real smile. "You always were so selfish weren't you?"

She actually noticed tears falling down her face. She never imagined that she could ever feel this way. How long has it been? Years upon years searching for some way to end her miserable existence. But what she found instead, was infinitely better. "Always, my warlock."

Lelouch stroked the back of her hair, a small gesture of comfort. "You know, I never really liked that nickname. But I suppose it's fair, my witch."

He held on for a moment longer, before they separated at the call of Daedalus from the remains of his knightmare. "I hate to break up such a compelling reunion, but you do realize we are still in the middle of a battlefield?"

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Lelouch was met by an uneasy silence when he climbed back into the Shinkiro. It quickly dawned on him that Aleina undoubtedly heard the entire conversation held between him and C.C. Seeing as how it was obviously impossible to hide the secret from her any longer, he was now only deciding on how to explain to her exactly who he was. If there was anyone who could understand, or at least acknowledge his past, it might as well be her. "R.R..." He heard from behind him. Aleina's voice was full of mixed doubt and suspicion. Even the name she spoke sounded unsure.

"I'll explain it all later. I swear. But right now..." He responded. There were more pressing concerns around them.

Vincents swarmed around blindly fighting against the expertly coordinated frames he assumed were upgraded Akatsukis. Even despite the emotional distress he noted earlier, the Guren's pilot was doing a phenomenal job directing them. His hands flew across the keyboard in front of him, bringing the Shinkiro back to life as it roared into the fray.

Directly in front of the Ikaragua was Gideon, watching in the bridge of the Godwyn. For the sake of his plan, Lelouch couldn't finish him here, not while the Phoenix Order was hanging back content to watch the fight. And in her trademark way, C.C. threw an unexpected wrench into the plan. He was already working around how her interface would play into the game. But as of right now, he had to end this battle. Gideon wanted to prove his authority as the world's protector, and taking that role for himself would prove a boon in his favor. But total annihilation would leave the Phoenix Order to do as they pleased. As godlike as it was, the Shinkiro couldn't be in more than one place at a time.

He knocked away a few knightmares around him to clear space for the shatter sphere to activate. He would first diminish their sheer numbers. Airships were much easier targets unprotected.

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The tension was high aboard the Godwyn. The sudden appearance of yet another substantial enemy fleet was...discouraging to say the least. In the end, it only served to infuriate Gideon when he realized that not one, but two separate groups were able to construct such massive numbers completely under the radar from the entire damn world. In his eyes, the blame ultimately fell upon his own shoulders. The world's safety fell under his list of duties. Both as emperor of Britannia and as the leader of the UFN. He took that mantle upon himself so that no others could receive any blame for that mistake. Claudius was a Britannian, and the companies he used to build his army from the same nation. It was Gideon's responsibly to make sure that didn't happen. And he failed. And now it appeared he made a second blunder as well.

Enemies were closing in on all sides, and Zero's forces were moving with ruthless efficiency. He hated that the bastard used the mask of Zero. It was as if he was mocking Gideon for everything he was not. Even after watching the Shinkiro face off against them masked man he knew he was unfit for the role he had taken up. Because Zero was everything Gideon was supposed to be. This man was not the real Zero, but he was a brutal reminder that Gideon was not the man of miracles. And he was not the embodiment of justice. He narrowed his eyes, his face hardened with determination.

But neither was his enemies.

"Fire the Gefjun wave cannon!"

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Even now Isaac was plowing through the numerous flying paperweights with utter ease. The Senchineru was designed to be the ultimate in one on one combat, the complete opposite to the Shinkiro's battlefield dominance motif. And although he couldn't rack up the body count the Shinkiro could, he was still playing his part. It was disappointing that R.R. had so suddenly decided that the Guren was no longer his target. And to keep their apparent truce a secret from Gideon, he was still given free reign to pummel anything else he felt like. Since apparently the...black Knights? Couldn't function without its leadership. He was currently looking for one of the Knights of the round, who had prioritized protection of their fleet over defeating R.R. or him. But if he managed to find one of them he wouldn't give them much a choice in the matter. Unfortunately that seemed to be akin to finding a needle in a giant flying haystack. Everything looked the same from far away, and there were too many knightmares to pick out which ones were advanced frames when their defensive positions weren't utilizing the speed that made them so identifiable.

He took a barrage of missile fire from a Vincent squad before erasing them with the red beam of his lance. With any immediate 'threats' cleared from his vicinity he took the opportunity to scan the area more thoroughly. But instead of finding a worthy opponent, his eyes came to rest upon the Godwyn. He noticed the rather peculiar cannon that flowed with an odd green aura that ran down the length of the three parallel barrels. The glow grew more intense as energy sparked between the barrels. And with a deafening high pitched screech, a wave of light streaked across the sky. In its path, nothing.

At least at first.

Without warning, countless knightmares dropped out of the sky, completely helpless as they plummeted to the sea below. Among them, the Shinkiro Conquest.

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Aleina was trying very, very hard to stay calm.

It had been unavoidable. They figured that out almost as soon as the blaring sound alerted them to the giant beam of green light heading right at them. This was something that her inquiries into Camelot had not made her aware of, and now it seemed like something she should have looked in to.

Every system was completely dead. Any button she tried pressing resulted in absolutely nothing, and any system reboot didn't turn anything back on. And she tried a lot of them in a very short time frame.

While she was still frantically trying to get something to work, Lelouch came to another conclusion: they were fucked.

He knew what this was, although it still surprised him to see it utilized in such an advanced weapon; it changed nothing when faced with the realization that this knightmare was now completely powerless. With that in mind, he did the only thing he could and climbed back around to where Aleina was still struggling to come to that conclusion.

"Hold on!" He shouted over the noise of their descent. Lelouch threw himself on top of Aleina, holding her in a way that would put his body in the line of fire when they hit the water. Which they did only a second later. He was only aware that they collided for a fraction of a second before he slammed into the top of the cockpit, crushing more than a few bones. It was an impact that would have killed anyone, and thusly he did in fact die, but that was only a trivial thing to him.

Aleina was still very sore, and thoroughly bruised. But alive nonetheless. She let out a groan as she pulled herself from the limp body of her contractor, hardly worried for his wellbeing. Instead she chose to worry about the integrity of the now bent and caved cockpit they were in. She could feel it slowly sink further into the sea, and felt even further panic at the thought of drowning in this thing.

"Relax, the Shinkiro was designed to be capable of traveling though water; we're fine." Lelouch shifted from his place discarded on the floor. He pulled himself over the seat and back into his own spot up front. "The cockpit should still be more or less waterproof. Just don't breath too much is all."

Not quite taking his word for it, Aleina continued to inspect the chassis for any signs of leaks that might cause a problem. Eventually she found it satisfying and sunk into her chair with another groan.

They were completely cut off from the battle above them. The only sounds they could hear were faint rumbles that felt incredibly distant. "Now what?" She asked, sounding defeated.

"We wait I suppose. If Isaac can find us he should be able to recover the frame. But there's nothing we can do here." Lelouch responded. He sighed as he put a hand against the side of his head. A situation like this was absolutely infuriating. He hated this powerlessness; completely unable to do anything about his situation. All he could do was rely on others and hope they pulled through. And he wasn't the type to do that...but he was working on it.

They say in silence for a few minutes as the world above them grew more distant. Eventually, a soft thud signaled that they had hit the ocean floor. They weren't too terribly far out from shore, so it wasn't as deep as it would have been miles out.

"I guess now might be a good time to explain some things." Lelouch said, breaking the silence.

Aleina glanced at him, his face hidden from her. She had already spent some time thinking over what she had heard him say to that woman, C.C. It was clear that she was another person with a code and she knew him quite well. Enough to know who he really was. "You are Lelouch vi Britannia. The demon emperor."

It wasn't spoken with accusation, simply stating a fact. "That's how you suddenly knew the prime minister so well, how you knew about the Shinkiro. And how you know your plan will work. Not just because it was done before, but because you did it before."

She let it hang there, without saying anything more. Instead Lelouch started to speak. "I was never supposed to survive. I accidentally took my father's code when I killed him. I didn't even know it until I was killed on stage."

Alein frowned. "Your father, emperor Charles had a code? And you killed him?" She asked, understanding that a code meant immortality, that he shouldn't have been possible to kill.

"Not for long. It previously belonged to his brother V.V. When someone possesses a Geass long enough they obtain the ability to end the life of an immortal." He explained to her. "For that reason, I was given geass by C.C. one hundred an eight years ago. And with it, I created Zero."

Aleina blinked. She almost wasn't sure if she heard that right. Lelouch...was Zero? That only served to create even more questions. Unsure what to first ask, she just let him continue. "My mother was assassinated, and my sister crippled in the same attack. To be honest, that event is what drove me to do everything I did. I was so angry at a world that in reality...did nothing wrong. Every single god damned bit of misfortune in my life was because of one man and his disillusioned dream. The power of Geass is connected to an alternate dimension known as the world of C. In it, the sword of Akasha. 'A weapon to kill God.' My father wanted to create a world forever frozen in the past. A world without lies. It was that idea, that ruined my own life. He and V.V. strived toward that goal all the while lying to each other about their true intentions. I ended that dream. And in its place created a world that could loom toward the future. I did all that for my little sister to have the happiness she deserved."

Lelouch let out a heavy sigh. He was still facing away from Aleina, not wanting to see reaction or expression to his life story. "I don't expect you to forgive me for what I did, or even understand my decisions. I was blind to the consequences of my actions, and I payed that price with my life. Lelouch vi Britannia is long since gone. And in his place a timeless man who exists only to preserve the sacrifice of the millions who died by his hand. It doesn't change anything, our goal remains the same. You only have to put up with me long enough to see this through."

He fell into silence, his monologue completed. Aleina contemplated his words, and the revelation that they showed her. In the end, she decided she could sympathize with him. After all, if she was given the opportunity to avenge the deaths of her brother and mother, she would take it. The only difference between them is he had a clear target for his vengeance. For her, the matter was a bit more complicated.

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"What did you do to the poor thing?!"

As the Shinkiro was slowly lowered down onto hangar floor, Edmond was naturally having a conniption fit over the wrecked hulk of twisted steel dropped into the service bay. The impact left quite a toll on the frame and rendered it rather unrecognizable.

"The entire Yggdrasil drive is toast!" Edmond continued to cry in dismay. "Whatever that thing was it completely ruined the core systems."

"I told you that it wasn't worth the risk!" Marellia also added, choosing to rub in the salt.

"Quite the contrary, I could not disagree more with that." Lelouch countered, stepping away from the wreckage along with Aleina. "If I had not participated in that battle, than we would not have discovered the true intentions of 'Zero,' and the man behind the mask."

Marellia frowned, her path toward pummeling his face temporarily halted. "What are you talking about?" She demanded.

Lelouch responded with a small smirk, before turning to the door. "You can come in now."

And the command, the door opened, and from it walked in a man dressed as Zero, and a woman in a black outfit emblazoned with the Black Knight's symbol upon her chest. Marellia narrowed her eyes at the man, recognizing her own brother instantly. "My, that cannon really did a number on you didn't it?" Daedalus commented, earning a scowl from his older sister.

The entire group then witnessed a rather unsightly display of affection when C.C. reached where Lelouch was standing. It only served to add to the confusion for Marellia, who had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"We have a change in plans." He stated as his own groups gathered around him. "I came into contact with C.C. here during the battle. We have known each for...a very long time. As our names suggest, we are alike." Pretty much everyone except, again, Marellia understood what he was inferring to.

"I don't think I see why you were so willingly able to allow him to come here." Marellia interrupted, sparing a glance at her brother. "You first decided he was another enemy then decided to trust him with the location of your only base of operations." She then gave him a full on scowl. "I don't trust him."

"Thank you, for the vote of confidence, dear sister." Daedalus returned with a snide glare.

"You were always working behind our backs _brother_." Marellia accused him, returning the glare. "Don't think I forgot about that power play you made a few months ago."

Daedalus replied with a snort. "I was trying to fight Gideon!" He defended himself rather heatedly. "I've been on to him for a long time now; something that was supposed to be your job!" He returned the accusation.

Marellia growled. "I'm busy enough as it is managing the messes everyone else makes while you sat around acting all mysterious. If you were really trying to stop Gideon than the least you could have done was actually do something!"

"Enough!" Lelouch roared, his natural authority seeping into the single word command. It worked well enough that the two ship up instantly. "We are all here because we are all united against a single threat. Gideon is our only real enemy. The Phoenix Order is nothing but his puppet; we all know that. That's why we're here."

The two Britannain royals both huffed in annoyance. They knew he was right, but that didn't stop them from glaring at each other.

"Each one of us is here because we are trying to stop the emperor of Britannia from usurping the entire world. We all know Gideon is the true enemy in this war. The UFN are clueless to what is actually going on, so it's up to us to stop him. With Daedalus and his army things have changed, but now we know that we are not enemies. We can unite together rather then fight, the lot of you just need to get along in order for that to happen. If we beat Gideon, this war is as good as won."

He looked over each one of his allies; to Aleina, who was still trying to make sense of everything she knew that the others didn't. To Isaac, who was more emotionally invested then anyone else, and the one who was prepared to do anything. Marellia understood what was required of her, and even if she didn't trust her brother, or even Lelouch, he knew she would do what needed to be done. He was beginning to think he could understand Daedalus a bit more. And from what he saw, he knew the man was capable of anything, and would stop at nothing. Edmond of course, wasn't there for the greater good, but an asset nonetheless. And finally, his marvelous witch, at her place by his side. He had everything he needed to complete his final task. Soon, the stage would be set.

And then, without warning, the lights went out. With the hangar plunged into darkness, Lelouch whipped his head around to find what had caused it. He could hear his allies reactions' as a mix of panic and worry. And then he felt a hand grasp his shoulder, and cloaked in the darkness, a voice he had heard only once before. But it was impossible to forget.

"Aren't you forgetting about me?"

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	14. Invincible

**R.R.**

 **Chapter 14: Invincible**

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"Aren't you forgetting about me?"

Lelouch turned sharply behind him, a weapon drawn against the empty darkness he found there.

"How sad you all look."

The voice was suddenly behind him once again, and he strained his eyes to find the source.

"Defeat is hard to overcome isn't it? Especially for one who must sustain an image of invincibility."

Every time the voice spoke, it was from somewhere else. And by this point, Lelouch had given up on trying to locate it.

"But that wasn't so hard back then, was it?"

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. He knew by now Z.Z. knew far more then he should, then anyone should. And any implication the man made was taken with extreme caution.

"Who are you?!" Marellia demanded of the shadows. But there was no response; not to her.

Instead Lelouch could feel a sudden presence directly in front of him, even if he couldn't see him.

"For thousands of years I have watched humanity." Z.Z. was quieter, only loud enough to for himself and C.C. beside him to hear over Marellia's continued shouting. "I have watched them prosper, and fall into despair. Kingdoms to empires rise and fall. And I have bore witness to the greatest and worst of it all."

A hand grasped hold of his neck in an instant. The fingers of a slim young man clutched his throat with the force of steel. "And you, Lelouch vi Britannia, are no different." He could finally make out Z.Z.'s face in the darkness, his features a strange look of solemn hatred. Something Lelouch couldn't quite describe. "You are like all before you. None can escape the inevitable spiral mankind falls into. Humanity is destined to tear down what it builds up." Z.Z.'s fingers tightened to the point that Lelouch could no longer breath. The immortal's crimson eyes bore through his own. And in them, an unfathomable emptiness.

"Again. And again. And again."

And just as suddenly, Z.Z. was gone, and the lights burst to life to reveal the immortal atop the wreckage of the Shinkiro. All eyes turned to him, a sadistic grin upon his face. "I am the beginning and the end. Alpha, and Omega. I am the sole observer of humanity in all its infinite foolishness."

Isaac grit his teeth in rage at the man in front of them. And beside Lelouch, C.C. wore a look of horror completely out of place on her face.

"I am the hand of God upon this earth. And I have come to smite those who dare challenge my will."

A gunshot rung out, and Z.Z.'s head snapped back. There was silence as Lelouch glanced at a determined Marellia, gun drawn. But Z.Z. didn't fall.

An evil chuckle filled the large room, echoing off the walls. Z.Z.'s head rolled back forward. His face a picture of absolute terror. A single line of blood ran from the hole in his forehead. The hole that had already closed around the lead bullet that all but disappeared.

Impossible! Even with a code...

Marellia slowly lowered her gun, face pale with shock. And Z.Z.'s malicious laughter suddenly died out. He reached into his black jacket, and produced a small device Lelouch instantly recognized. "You fight in vain. Humanity is once again set upon the path of self destruction. Your actions have only delayed the inevitable. Now..."

Z.Z. pressed a button on the device, the Sakuradite bomb, and a rapid beeping noise spread throughout the group.

"You will be erased from the future you tried to reach."

"Get down!" Lelouch screamed. Z.Z. dropped the bomb into the Shinkiro, and Lelouch rushed to grab Aleina, who was closest to the crumpled frame. He pulled her away, and shielded her from the inferno that erupted merely a second later. Shrapnel and flames pelted his back mercilessly, and he nearly blacked out from the shear pain of it all.

When it did die down, Lelouch pulled himself from Aleina, quickly assessing the situation. Nobody was injured it seemed, but Z.Z. had disappeared in the explosion. "Is everyone all right?" He asked, pulling a rather large chunk of metal out of his shoulder. He got a generally positive response, save Edmond, who looked at the Shinkiro with gloomy eyes. "I don't think that's going to be easily repaired." The engineer sighed in dismay.

That was hardly a problem. Lelouch hadn't forgotten about Z.Z., but the third immortal being suddenly made himself a much bigger threat.

"R.R., C.C., and now Z.Z.?" Marellia spoke, with an accusing tone, drawing Lelouch's gaze. The princess glanced at her shaking hand carrying the gun, and to Lelouch's bleeding shoulder, that he hadn't given a second thought to. "I think you owe me an explanation. R.R." She spoke with the commanding tone the Britannian royal family possessed. Unfortunately for her, she was speaking to the last person on earth to ever be affected by that voice.

"I don't owe you anything, Marellia." Lelouch replied flatly. "I do not owe anyone anything. The sooner you realize that, the better."

The older woman twitched, her face contorting into rage. "Just-just who the hell do you think you are?!" She shouted at him.

He returned to her a nonchalant response. "A dead man who you need know nothing about."

Marellia blinked, stunned. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not going to ask your permission. I'm not going to ask your forgiveness. And I'm not going to ask for your approval." Lelouch told her, his demeanor cold and callous. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again Marellia. I am not bound by you, or anyone else. I have a mission to accomplish and you will not interfere with it."

The woman stared at him a moment, trying to find some sort of flaw in his mask. But there wasn't one: there never was. There wasn't a single man on earth who could wear a face like Lelouch. And whatever intentions he carried, were completely hidden to her. "Fine." She spat.

Marellia promptly turned on her heel, marching away from the smoldering wreckage, and away from the group.

"Edmond." Lelouch called.

"Yeah?" The scientist responded distantly.

"Check to see if Z.Z. has damaged anything else. And determine if there isn't anything salvageable from the Shinkiro."

"Already planning to." Edmond nodded, retrieving a set of tools from his work desk.

"Isaac, take your Senchineru, and remain on high alert. I have no idea what Z.Z. is planning, or if he'll return." Lelouch ordered the stone faced red head. He nodded, departing for his knightmare.

"Aleina." He addressed the younger princess. "Contact Jeremiah. I want everything he has looking for any signs of Z.Z."

"On it." She replied, moving to leave the building as well.

"I'm going to return to the Black Knights." Daedalus spoke up. "I'll get our intelligence looking for this code bearer as well. I'd much rather deal with Z.Z. as swiftly as possible.

Lelouch nodded to the prince. "That would be appreciated. Please inform me of you discover anything at all."

"Sure." Daedalus agreed, brushing past Lelouch. I'm sure you'll be staying here to chat." He looked to C.C.

The witch glanced at Lelouch, who looked rather torn to shreds. "I think so."

Daedalus took that as a sign to leave, and promptly left the two alone. And when they finally were, C.C. looked toward the exit, where Marellia had gone.

"She's the only one who doesn't know, isn't she?" C.C. began. "Why are you trying so hard to make an enemy of her?"

Lelouch remained quite a while, trying to decide if he should say anything. "She is the failsafe." He finally responded. "Aleina has been tainted by the power of the King; the curse you and I have come to know so well."

She looked at Lelouch, and could clearly see the guilt in his eyes. He remained calm either way. "I gave her Geass because I know she has the strength to do what no one else can. Aleina had that same fire, deep within her. But she will soon find out, if she doesn't already know, the consequences of the power she possesses. We both know what will happen. She has chosen that path, and like mine, it does not lead to prosperity."

"So you plan to set Marellia on the throne." C.C. figured. "But why are you pushing her away from you?"

"Because she must stand guiltless before herself, and the world. Free from me, and from everything I am about to do. And the only way to get her to do that is to force her away from me. To make her believe that I am not her ally. But only me. I'm not going to create a rift between her and the others. I'm going to influence her to betray me. She'll join Gideon, and when he is defeated, take his place. She will be Britannia's next Empress."

"What makes you so sure she's the right choice?" C.C. asked. "You set your sister upon the throne after your death, but what about Marellia would make her so important?"

Lelouch actually smirked at that. "You know, at first I thought Marellia was like Cornelia. They're both fearsome, protective and commanding. All at once. But Cornelia was different. She was a soldier above all else. And that meant she was loyal, unquestioning. To my father, to Schneizel, and ultimately to Nunnally. She lead soldiers, not empires. And in reality, she never wanted the throne because she knew that herself." He smiled, he was infinitely happy to know the witch of Britannia was someone he could rely on in the end. He knew he could count on her to aid Nunnally, and now he knew how well that worked out. "Marellia is not one to bow before anyone. She wants to know the truth and she is brutally honest about it. I can tell that about her. Most leaders and politicians lie to survive, I would know that better than anyone. But Marellia isn't like that. She seeks what matters, and she isn't blindly obedient like so many soldiers are. That was my flaw in the end, my Achilles heel. And that's why it's so important that Marellia does this herself. So she can remain honest with the people, and with herself."

"You really have it all figured out." C.C. commented with a smile. "How could I have expected anything less?"

Lelouch laughed. "Who do you think I am?"

C.C. latched on to his arm, leaning against him. Feeling his warmth she so dearly missed. "Your my warlock. My invincible hero."

"I'm a hero am I?" Lelouch raised an eyebrow.

C.C. only held her smile. She hadn't felt this way in a long time. In a really long time.

"Come on, let's catch up with Daedauls. I have someone I'd like you to meet."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Nora felt absolute shame.

No, it was far more than that. She had failed. That damnable R.R. had figured out her ploy and exploited her entire strategy. It had been her idea to command the Black Knights from inside the Guren, rather than the overseer Akatsuki. Daedalus was an exemplary pilot, and it was originally planned for him to pilot the Guren. But her mother but her mother insisted on protecting her, and so Nora gave herself the position of the queen, rather than the king. The Guren had better natural defenses than an Akatsuki, even if she was a terrible pilot. So Zero would serve as a distraction for R.R., to make him believe she was nothing more than a prototype pilot. Everything followed her philosophy, the one she learned from her mother. "If the king does not lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?" She was born to lead the Black Knights. The organization her mother revived nearly forty years ago. She had grown up a part of it, always knowing she was meant to one day lead them. This was supposed to be her chance to shine.

Over course that was all planned before the Senchineru came into play. And of course R.R. discerned her actual role in the battle. It infuriated her to no end more because of the fact that she actually enjoyed the battle. She reveled in commanding her forces against Gideon. Above all because she was actually succeeding. She beat the UFN at every flank, and she could feel their line breaking below her assault. And then Lelouch vi Britannia had to go and compromise that.

She was still at odds at what her mother revealed about her past. It was shocking to at the least that the demon emperor was far more than what the world made him out to be. Lelouch was an even more complicated person to figure out than her own mother. Something that required immediate attention, considering she had no idea why R.R. was fighting against them. If she were to believe Lelouch planned the 'Zero Requiem,' which she didn't exactly doubt, than he should be helping them. Or at least more willing to hear them out. But he had singled out Zero; and he used her to get to him. She had no clue what transpired when the two confronted each other on the Ikaragua, though she hoped her mom was able to talk some sense into him. She knew as much as anybody the situation they were in. Allies were far better to make than enemies right about now.

But they had been called off shortly after the Shinkiro fell into the sea. Gideon had refused to face the Black Knights, having said this battle was between him and R.R. So she reluctantly withdrew. And had been waiting for her mother and Daedalus to return ever since. She took their absence as a sign that they were with Lelouch, and that they were in the least getting along well. Though she couldn't be too sure her mom wasn't trying to tear Lelouch's eyes out. That certainly was possible from her point of view.

The door to the command room suddenly opened, spilling light into the room she left dark for sulking purposes. C.C. poked her head in, spotting Nora sitting at the far end of the large center table. She turned the lights on before entering the room. Lelouch followed behind her, and Nora's face contorted into a scowl when she saw him. "So you two did make up then?"

C.C. had quickly realized Nora was likely angry at the loss she suffered because of Lelouch. Though she was soon to try and rectify that. Either way this was going to be something.

"You're the pilot of the Guren." Lelouch spoke when he saw Nora. She stood, coming to face him. He glared at her, a gesture she mimicked perfectly. "And you're Lelouch vi Britannia."

Lelouch instantly turned to C.C. "You told her?!" He hissed. The witch smirked at him, amused at his reaction. "Of course. She is my daughter after all." She stated matter of factly.

Lelouch went bug-eyed. "Y-your daughter?!" He sputtered.

C.C. grinned at him, much to Nora's confusion. "Are you jealous?"

Lelouch violently shook his head, still completely caught off guard. Nora huffed at his response. "Maybe you should be. You left my mom for a whole century." She accused him.

"Nobody asked you!" Lelouch shouted at her, and then the two resumed their glaring match.

C.C. smiled at the two of them, finding it an enjoyable sight. "You know Lelouch, there's something about the code you probably didn't know."

Lelouch glanced at her, confused as to why she would bring that up.

"The body slows down growth tremendously in order to compensate rapid regeneration. I've found over the years this includes various things like hair, nails and the such. The body may be immortal but stuff like that still grows; just incredibly slowly." C.C. explained. Lelouch frowned at her, unable to see the importance.

"Nine months translates in to ninety years, to be exact." She finished.

"Nine months?" Lelouch shook his head. "But what does that-" He stopped with a squeak, his eyes suddenly widened. He stood speechless for a while as C.C. watched him, and Nora sat completely clueless. "Nora," Lelouch spoke with a shaky voice. "How old are you?"

The black haired teen frowned at him, having not realized what he clearly did. "I'm seventeen. What's that matter?" But just as she said that, her face morphed into pure shock. "Oh."

"Lelouch." C.C. said. "Meet Nora, your daughter."

Lelouch continued to stare blankly. This was absolutely not something he had ever ever planned for. There was a reason he never got into relationships and this was precisely why. He didn't want to condemn a child to the kind of life he led. He never wanted to bring life into a flawed world like his father's. It was only after his own death that a child of his could live free of his father's grasp. And yet despite all that...He smiled. "After all the lives I have taken. I'm allowed to create one?"

No, that was not something he had planned for.

"He's my dad?!" Nora exclaimed, gawking at the man in front of her. "You're kidding?!"

C.C. shook her head. "You can see it can't you?"

Lelouch had to admit there was an uncanny resemblance. Her hair and eyes were of the same color. And having been told this girl was his daughter, he could certainly believe it. Nor did he have any reason to doubt it. "I suppose it still makes sense. You were the one leading the Black Knights weren't you? You did an excellent job of it."

Nora blinked, momentarily forgetting her disbelief. "You think so?" Whether he was her father or not, hearing that put her earlier shame to rest. This man was the master of strategy after all. She couldn't argue his praise.

Lelouch nodded. "That's how I was able to figure out your plan. You and I have that skill set, and it doesn't include ace piloting skills. So Daedalus couldn't have been doing both."

Nora frowned. "I see, I suppose that makes sense."

"You still did exceedingly well, considering that was your first experience in real combat." Lelouch encouraged her, playing the part of father surprisingly well. Much better than his own father ever did anyway. "No amount of simulators or training can ever completely prepare you for the real thing."

Nora finally removed the scowl from her face, and gave just a faint smile. "Thanks. I...appreciate that." She admitted.

Lelouch returned the smile, feeling for once genuine happiness. He felt a huge amount of guilt knowing that he had missed seventeen years of this girl's life. He may not have exiled her, but it wasn't too much different. But if C.C. wanted him to enter her life now, he would damn well try to be the father to her he never had.

Even if he looked her age. That wasn't important.

"There's something else we need to discuss." Lelouch spoke, his mask returning to its proper place. He turned to C.C. "What do you know about Z.Z.?"

The woman's face grew dark. She looked away, her eyes unreadable. "I don't know very much about him. To be honest I didn't think he actually existed."

Lelouch furrowed his brow. "What does that supposed to mean?"

"There were rumors. Rumors you only really hear after living for so long. I myself might have started some like that." C.C. explained. "He was supposed to be the first code bearer, the one who received immortality from God himself, in the beginning of humanity."

"He said he's watched humans for thousands of years. And this isn't the first time I've met him. He killed Isaac's sister. And this time he deliberately came to destroy the Shinkiro. He's trying to set me back." Lelouch spoke, putting a hand to his chin in thought.

"This guy killed Annie?" Nora asked disbelievingly. She had met the girl once before at school, same with Isaac. Though he apparently forgot about her. Either that or she just had a good memory.

Lelouch nodded. "I have no idea what he's planning. Or why he's trying to stop me."

"I wouldn't know either." C.C. "He's lived millennia without passing on his code. Whatever purpose he has, is unknown."

"Do you think he's trying to help Gideon by getting rid of us?" Nora asked.

Lelouch shook his head. "Z.Z. knew about me. I doubt he's unaware of Gideon's machinations. He believes the efforts I made to establish peace were futile. But I can't understand why he would reveal himself now, after remaining hidden for so long. Why did he not stop my father? What he planned threatened humanity in its entirety."

"I don't know." C.C. admitted. "I really don't know."

"Perhaps we should continue to focus on Gideon." Lelouch reluctantly decided. "I have Jeremiah on the look out for him now, that may be all we can do for now."

C.C. nodded, but then looked at Lelouch curiously. "What do you plan to do with Gideon? And why did you refuse Zero's offer?"

Lelouch looked at her with a dark expression. "Gideon has to be removed. I have no other choice. And yet, there is little I can do to not completely shatter the little trust the people still have in their leaders at this point. Gideon has to die a hero. And for that..." Lelouch took a breath, his eyes closed. "I have to die a villain."

C.C. looked at him, her eyes slowly widened as she registered what he was implying. "No!" She shouted, shocking him. "I won't let you do that!"

Nora jumped as she saw her mother grab Lelouch in a fierce hug.

"I won't let you do that. Not again. I can't bear to watch you take on this burden again. It was impossibly hard the first time. But..." She looked into his eyes, and Lelouch could see that she was crying. She was crying over him. "If you still love me, then don't make me watch you suffer anymore."

And now Nora knew for certain that Lelouch really was someone she could be proud to call her father. She knew that Lelouch sacrificed himself to establish peace, and he was willing to do it again. But she wouldn't let him do that. "We'll find another way." Nora interrupted. Lelouch looked at her, surprised. "You and me, we can find another way."

Lelouch shook his head. "But there isn't. I've gone through every option, it had to be this way."

"No." Nora insisted. "We can. You don't win by saying you can't."

Lelouch looked at her with a corner of his mouth turned up. "I guess you're right."

"You will find a way, Lelouch." C.C. told him. "Your invincible, remember?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Isaac scanned the skies from within the cockpit of the Senchineru. He blood was boiling right now, and was itching for a fight. He wanting to pummel Z.Z. into a bloody pulp. To make sure there was nothing left to regenerate from. Only then would he be satisfied. He grit his teeth, pushing forward across Tokyo bay, he scoured the buildings and streets, as if he looked hard enough, he would find the bastard.

And then he was careening toward the ground.

The knightmare collided with a tower, exploding with incredible force. He burst out the other side, taking out even more of downtown Tokyo on his way to the street. His head bleeding from the attack, Isaac looked out to see several more buildings falling around him. He quickly pushed on the joystick, forcing the Senchineru back into the sky.

What he saw there was something infuriating.

A pitch black knightmare with sharp ridges and glowing red eyes hovered over the destruction it had razed around the city in such a short time. Atop it stood the man he was searching for. Z.Z. looked straight at him, a terrifying grin on his face. A massive explosion erupted behind him, illuminating his silhouette.

"Was it me you were looking for?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 **Z.Z.'s arc is the only segment I've had difficulty planning. As such it's a little tricky to write through. I'll say now that he isn't the 'final bad guy,' and once he's out of the way we'll be on track with what I have planned out better.**

 **It's still going along well though.**


	15. The Ant and the Sun

**R.R.**

 **Kept you waiting huh?**

 **Chapter 15: The Ant and the Sun**

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Isaac surged forward in a blind rage, the smug look in Z.Z.'s face the only thing he could see. He lunged out, making to impale his foe. And then he wasn't there.

Before he could even register what happened, his was hit with a sound of metal tearing apart. He turned around with a sweep of his lance, attempting to skewer the foe behind him; only to find the knightmare once again out of his reach. Isaac brought up his own defense as the frame advanced on him at incredible speed, it's clawed hands aimed for his cockpit. And then suddenly once of his arms was torn away, the claws ripping through the machine.

"He feinted that fast?!" Isaac shook his head. He needed to focus. He took a good look at the frame as it slowly circled around him. What he recognized as hadron cannons sat inside its chest. No doubt the cause of the growing fires below him. But the only other form of weapons appeared to be the blood red claws that were easily the size of the thing's entire arm. His eyes suddenly widened when he realized why they were that glowing red. "That's the same tech as the hadron spear!" He shouted to himself. R.R. had said the Shinkiro was the only frame to have those when it was created a century ago. Edmund had replicated them for his Senchineru, but they shouldn't exist beyond that. _How the hell does he have those?_

He braced himself for the next rush, intently watching the dangerous red streaks make toward his weakened left side. He could tell easily enough where the black knightmare intended to strike. And yet just before impact, his opposite shield arm was nearly taken off as well.

"That's impossible." Isaac muttered. It was in one place, and another at the same time. An illusion.

He grit his teeth and surged forward on the offensive. His foe simply floated in place watching him approach. And as he assumed, Isaac's attack passed through nothing, and he earned himself another gash across his left torso. He struck toward the black blur to find it further behind him. He smirked, this time swinging to the right, his spear colliding not with where it should be, but where it really was.

Having finally scored a hit, Isaac backed away from Z.Z., finding he had done he same thing.

"Impressive." Z.Z. said with mock applause as he rose from the open cockpit. "You're a clever one aren't you?"

Isaac watched him from a distance, attempting to find anything that would reveal the knightmare's secret. As far as he could tell there was no device giving or that ability, but it wasn't something he knew to look for.

"But I've got another important date to get to." Z.Z. told him, stepping out of his knightmare and onto an arm that raised for him. "So you play nice with my Akuma."

Z.Z. suddenly jumped from his Akuma frame, falling to the ground below. But before Isaac could chase after him, the black Akuma intercepted him. He recoiled from the collision, staring wide eyed at the frame. "He's not the pilot?!" He looked down to where Z.Z. had fallen out of sight. "Then who is?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Explosions rocked through the Black Knight's headquarters deep underground. And it suddenly became very apparent something bad was going on up above.

"Isaac, what's going on up there?" Lelouch asked through a communicator that the red head had as well. "Isaac!"

The silence from the other end was unnerving as he sat impatiently in an elevator with C.C. and Nora bound for the surface.

"Our scouts are saying an unknown knightmare is attacking Tokyo right now." Nora explained, listening to her own radio chatter. "And it sounds like Isaac is taking a beating from it."

Lelouch growled, pulling a phone from his coat and dialing a number at record speed.

"Jeremiah." He spoke after the prompt answer.

"The UFN has just gotten word of an unknown attack in Tokyo." The old man responded without missing a beat. "We have no idea who's responsible, and the pacific forces are moving to intercept right now. They should be there in just a few minutes."

Lelouch grunted in acknowledgment as the doors opened to the roof of the Black Knight's above ground tower. "Is Aleina with you?" He asked as he rushed out to get a glimpse of the situation himself.

"She arrived her just moments ago actually. Rather bad timing." Jeremiah replied.

"Just make sure she stays safe. I sent her to try locating Z.Z., but..." he looked up at the menacing black knightmare hovering above a considerable amount of damage. "I don't think that's necessary anymore."

"Marellia is also here, By the way." Jeremiah added. "She has been close to Gideon since arriving."

Lelouch nodded to himself. "I see. Thank you, I'll be in touch."

He closed his phone, focusing his whole attention to the battle above them.

"He's getting his ass kicked up there!" Nora swore, earning a raised eyebrow from C.C. "I should go and help him."

Lelouch out an arm in front of his daughter, stopping her from going to wherever her Guren was. "No. There's something going on here." He said, glaring at the black frame several hundred feet in the air. He watched it rush Isaac several times now, and saw the same the happen every time. "Do you see that, C.C.?"

"See what?" Nora asked, confused as to why she was being held back.

"I think so." C.C. responded, equally suspicious of the fighting. "Something doesn't look right."

"Good to know I'm not seeing things." He muttered. It was difficult to see, even harder to explain. But he could just make it out every time the collided. Isaac's opponent, Z.Z. he guessed, would rush him; targeting a weak or exposed area. Then just before he struck, _something_ happened. And instead of a torso, it was an arm.

He saw Isaac charge forward, Z.Z. making no move to avoid him. And almost like before, something happened, and Isaac was struck from the side, the black frame materializing at his flank. Isaac attacked again, hitting nothing, then once more directly behind him.

"What the?!" Nora exclaimed. And even Lelouch was surprised when the knightmare disappeared completely from Isaac's left side, appearing out of nowhere behind him, where he had thrust his spear.

"An illusion?" Lelouch wondered as the two backed off, Z.Z.'s frame almost directly above them now.

They stayed apart awhile, neither moving toward the other, until Lelouch noticed something falling toward them. Isaac attempted to move toward it, but was stopped by Z.Z., and before he knew it, the man himself had landed with a crash in front of him. Clearly no longer in the black knightmare above.

He fell back from the surprising impact, staring at the man carrying a sinister grin. Z.Z. rose, shaking a leg like his hundred foot fall hadn't been more than ten.

"Sorry to drop in on you like this." He spoke. "Had to go pick up a friend."

"What are you trying to accomplish Z.Z.?" Lelouch demanded, taking a step toward the man, looking straight at his crimson eyes. The same color as geass.

"And why would I tell you that now, and take all the fun out of it?" Z.Z. responded in a mock tone. "I've been around a long time Lulu, not much amuses me anymore."

He approached Lelouch, chuckling. "Just know this: I take great pleasure in finally putting you in your place." Z.Z.'s hand reached out to touch him, and in an instant his entire body went rigid, a dull pain searing through him.

"Lelouch!" He heard C.C. cry out, but couldn't see what she was doing. His eyes were glued forward, the corners of his vision going dark.

"The difference between you and I is like that of an ant and the sun itself." Z.Z. sneered at him, the man's eyes glowering at him. "It's time you finally learned that."

In an instant, the pain became an unbearable roar. He screamed out, falling to his knees. But still he forced himself to hold on to consciousness.

Z.Z. laughed at his struggling. "It's been a long time since I've done this to someone who's head didn't instantly pop like a balloon." He grinned devilishly. "You've been a lot of fun Lelouch. But now it's time to face the truth.

"You run a fool's errand Lelouch. In just a few decades your efforts will be washed away by the tides of time. You've already lived long enough to see it. So what makes you think trying again will solve anything?"

Through gritted teeth, Lelouch opened his mouth against the overwhelming burning in his mind. Blood leaking from his nose found its way past his lips. "If I have to keep coming back again and again. If I have to set the right path over and over." He looked the immortal dead in the eye, proving his defiance. "If that's what it takes...then so be it."

Z.Z. gave him a look of disappointment, slowly shaking his head. "You'll grow tired of that eventually." He placed his hand over Lelouch's face, the touch felt like burning his skin. "So I'll just stop you here."

In a fraction of a second, Lelouch felt the weight of a semi truck slam into his skull. His vision went white, and he lost all sense of feeling beside the explosion in his mind. He heard a scream, but couldn't tell if it came from himself, or someone else.

Slowly, he lost consciousness, and the pain died with him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Gideon sat in uneasy silence in the UFN command room aboard the Godwyn. All around him were officers that watched intently for any signs of development in the sudden situation. All they knew was that something was mercilessly targeting buildings and innocent civilians. And that was all they needed to know to send out a relief effort.

But the forces had yet to arrive, and every passing minute the tension grew.

He was uncertain as to who he would find responsible for the attack. He found it unlikely that Claudious would be making a scene like this, and if R.R. survived his crash-which Gideon was rather inclined to believe he did-his involvement was unlikely. So was it that Zero figure? Was he attempting to garner his attention through these means? Even he seemed unlikely to commit to wholesale slaughter. In the end he really couldn't come to any conclusion, realizing with a dread sense of foreboding that there may be yet another figure in play here. Every day seemed to further cement the fact that this ordeal would not be ending any time soon.

The emperor sighed, looking to where his sister watched several monitors intently. She had arrived moments before the news reached him, claiming she had something urgent to tell him. Current events had since kept her occupied. He hoped she was finally ready to reveal whatever secret she was keeping from him. Marellia was always brutally honest, and never good at keeping secrets. There wasn't a moment he couldn't see it on her face. Whatever it was, it likely had to do with R.R. And he certainly wasn't about to ignore the one man who was capable of snuffing out the world's greatest weapon.

One of the officers below him suddenly jumped. "Your majesty, we're picking up on an international broadcast!"

Gideon perked up. Was it R.R. after all? "Get it on display." He ordered.

The other man nodded, and in just a few seconds the large display screen in the center of the bridge lit up. A man who Gideon had never seen before stood in the middle of the shot, his somber features masking a much darker look Gideon did not fail to miss. And Gideon saw as well the reaction his sister showed upon seeing him. He most definitely would be speaking to her the moment he could.

"I'm sure word is rapidly spreading about the sudden attack in Tokyo." The man began. "And I'm sure many of you are quickly moving to stop it. But only a few compared to the ones who are asking a different question."

Gideon narrowed his eyes. It was quite clear this man was not affiliated with anyone else. As such it was imperative to decide if he was an ally, or enemy. Because he really couldn't afford another enemy.

"Four sides. There are four different sides in this war. Each of them claims in their own way to be fighting for humanity's future. Everyone refuses to admit their faults, and they each fight with the belief justice and the people of this world are behind them." He stopped, closing his eyes in a dramatic pause. "But in the end only one thing really matters. You the common people seek only the answer to one question. Not who is right, not who is good...but when will this finally end?"

The emperor rose an eyebrow at the speech. What did he mean by that? Was this man saying he had no beliefs, or any grounds for action? They what was he after?"

"The peace you have known all your life is crumbling around you. And everyone claims their methods are the path to a permanent solution. But as things stand now none of them can truly achieve it." He put a hand to his chest. "I will not speak to you of my ideals, or what is right in the world. Instead, I shall give to you what you truly want. A world free from war and strife. A world of permanent, everlasting peace. So when you finally come to the conclusion that there is no other way, come to me. Call to Adam, the one who will end this for good. In the mean time, let me show you I am not to be ignored. Let me show you the power I will use to reach that perfect world."

The man calling himself Adam grinned. "Let me show you the power of God."

The broadcast ended, and there was silence. And Gideon had no idea what to think. But he never got a chance to sort his thoughts when a sea of alarms went off all around him.

"The pacific fleet has been wiped out!" Someone shouted, and several others confirmed the claim.

"What's going on?" Gideon demanded. "What attacked them?"

The officer in question shook his head, frowning. "The survivors are saying it was some beam of light directed at the airships. They were all completely destroyed."

"A beam of light?" He repeated. There wasn't a single weapon of that caliber he had heard of before.

Another officer spoke up. "It appears to have originated from a place called...Kamine island."

Gideon scowled. A super weapon on some tiny island? That was this man's hand? "Send my Knights to investigate it. Tell them to be wary of whatever they find."

"Yes, your majesty."

Gideon sunk into his chair, running an exhausted hand through his hair. Just what the hell was going on?

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Lelouch! Wake up Lelouch!"

C.C. shook him in her arms, desperately looking for any signs of life. But more than ten minutes later, there was no sign of him waking up.

Z.Z. had left him after he collapsed from the overwhelming telepathic power. She had now idea just what it must have felt like, but she could feel it from where she stood, completely frozen by just a mere thought from the timeless immortal. Never before had she felt so completely helpless, listening to the screams of the man she loved. The haunting sound was still ringing in her ears.

"What's wrong?" Nora asked from beside her, concern laced in her voice for the man she just learned was her father. "Why hasn't he woke up yet?"

C.C. shook her head in despair. "I...don't know." The damage done to him was unseen, though it didn't look like he was getting any better. Blood covered his face and stains his clothes, pouring from his mouth and nose. His heart was still silent in his chest. "Wake up damnit!"

A bright flash caused her to look to the sky. And there she saw a beam of light stretch across the darkening sky. A strange feeling blossomed at the back of her skull. It was unpleasant enough that she squeezed her eyes shut until it passed, fading with the light above them.

In the distance, shapes of airships fell from the sky. The burning hulks of what was likely the UFN's response fleet, meant to stop Z.Z. And suddenly she realized what that light was.

"We should get him inside." C.C. told her daughter, riding with Lelouch in her arms. "We need to come up with a plan."

She had faith Lelouch would pull through, like he always did in the end. Now was the was not the time to stand around. And fortunately for her, the plan she was beginning to form was something Lelouch wouldn't have liked. She was lucky he wasn't around to show his disapproval.

It was clear Z.Z. was a much bigger, and immediate threat. And they couldn't take him on alone.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The darkness that clouded his vision suddenly gave way to a bright light. His body reacted sluggishly, as he tried to shield his eyes from the offending light. Slowly, he adjusted to the pure whiteness around him, and confusion began to set in instead.

"Where...am I?"

Lelouch couldn't remember how he got here, nor did recognize this endless white sky. A place so plain the only shadow was his own. He took a hesitant step, unsure which direction to even go. Instead, he wracked his brain trying to remember what had just happened, only to find that thinking hurt. A lot.

"C.C.!" He suddenly cried out, recalling her screaming for him. The ache in his head only increased as the memory of that imaginable pain came over him once again. He didn't doubt that whatever Z.Z. had done killed him. But that didn't explain why he was in this strange limbo. He should have regenerated, he should have woken up. Burning matter how hard he thought, no answer came to him. He frowned, wondering what was going on right now. What happened to C.C., and to Nora? Were they okay?

He began frantically turning about, looking for something in the infinite white. He had to get back, he had to stop Z.Z. He had no idea what the lunatic was going to do. For all he knew things could be falling apart while he was stuck in his own mind!

"Hello, Lelouch."

He froze, hearing a voice that wasn't his own.

"It's been a long time."

He turned to the sound, a voice he recognized. And there he saw him. He looked just the same as he did the last day Lelouch lived as himself. The last day they were both themselves before giving up their identities for the world they had dreamed of.

"It's good to see you again."

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	16. Ghosts of the Past

**R.R.**

 **I've put this off for far too long. Meh**

 **Chapter 16: Ghosts of the Past**

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The emperor of Britannia stood on the bridge of the Godwyn, watching the four small dots grow further away past the horizon. The four Knights of the Round had just been deployed to the island off the coast of Japan. What they would find there Gideon had no idea at all. The weapon that annihilated the Pacific relief fleet was unlike anything seen thus far. He couldn't go so far as to call it a gigantic hadron cannon; the beam lacking any physical properties of the only thing that came close. Regardless, all he hoped was that whatever it was, his knights could deal with it swiftly, and without difficulty.

However, even that was less of a concern when he took note of his sister's approach. It would seem the time for answers had finally arrived.

"Brother, I would speak to you. Privately." Marellia declared, her stony face devoid of any conflicting emotion.

Rather than lead her somewhere else, Gideon simply ordered the other staff present to leave, clearing the bridge of everyone but the two of them. He strode to the front of the bridge, overlooking the sea as his sister came to stand beside him. "So are you ready to give me some answers then, sister?"

To that, she slowly nodded. "Only now do I see I was wrong to have chosen his side. I apologize for refraining but I was firmly in the belief that I was correct to withhold."

"So you were working with R.R. after all?" The emperor asked, surprised to hear the admission.

"More like working for him, if you could call it that. The man has several allies who aid him behind the scenes; how he secured them I have no idea. Especially considering who some of them are." She told him.

Gideon frowned at that. "Who... are R.R.'s allies?" He asked.

"Well, it should be obvious, but Aleina is probably the closest to him. She was the one who introduced me to him, and the one he piloted the Shinkiro with." Marellia explained.

He slowly nodded at that. "I suppose that makes some sense. I really should have made sure to pin her down, but she's been surprisingly slippery. Though I can't actually see her value to him. She is one of the most politically inferior royal members, though I assume she must have some other asset?" He had spoken to her earlier in the day, when she first arrived onboard the Godwyn with Marellia. But he didn't recall much of their conversation, too busy to pay any attention was likely the cause. He wasn't sure what to make of his younger half sister. She had always been content to stay far from attention, ever since her family was murdered. He shuddered at what that implied however.

"Then there's the prime minister, probably the most baffling one." Marellia continued, breaking his line of thought.

"Gottwald?!" He exclaimed. The man was nothing but loyal to Britannia and her people! Even after the events following the demon emperor Jeremiah's involvement was cleared up by Zero. He was acting to both curb where he could and ultimately bring down the tyrant when Zero finally did step in. That made absolutely no sense in the slightest.

"You're certain of this?" Gideon asked, still doubting the aged minister's betrayal.

"Without a doubt, unfortunately. I have no idea how R.R. got a hold of him. If it's even legitimate or some kind of threat is held over him. But I don't doubt he has likely leaked quite a lot of information, and has worked behind the scenes for him since this all started."

"That is troubling." Gideon muttered, thinking of everything that could mean.

"Then he has a scientist that worked on the Shinkiro, and built the other knightmare that a young teen pilots. I believe R.R. found him from the Pendragon Defense Unit. There is really no connection to that kid, and I really don't know why he is there. But honestly none of R.R.'s allies make any sense to me."

"I'm going to venture a guess the scientist is Edmond Calvaire correct?" Gideon asked in response. "We sought him out to construct the Knight's frames only to find he had completely disappeared. He was the closest thing to a knightmare engineer there was, though more like an enthusiast but...either way, I had my suspicions."

The princess nodded. "Yes, I believe that was his name. He had a team that helped manage the two knightmares, but I don't think any of them really stood out."

"So he really just has that small of a group then?" The emperor asked with a frown.

"Yes." Marellia confirmed. "Except what is most troubling is how quick to ally he was with Zero."

"He what?!" Gideon exclaimed, alarmed at the revelation.

"Oh, I suppose it may be important to tell you Daedalus is the one behind that mask, though possibly unsurprising." She continued. "But even then he isn't actually the one in charge."

Gideon furrowed his brow, already ignoring his shadowy brother's apparent betrayal. "Then who is?"

"The one R.R. knows. A woman called C.C." She revealed.

"C.C.? Those names..." Of course the first thing that came to mind was the striking similarities between them, but he couldn't right it off as more than coincidence just yet.

"But it gets even stranger. See the man who called himself Adam just now? I've seen him before; he's been sabotaging R.R. for quite some time now, even made sure the Shinkiro couldn't be restored again. But I knew him as Z.Z." She explained.

"But that doesn't make any sense." Gideon replied. "If anything, that would mean he too would be there ally." Yes, that was the only real conclusion to make, if they all shared that connection. Because there was no way it was coincidence now. They all had similar names that were not their own. Each bearing them before meeting one another, at least in their more recent appearances. In truth, it seemed superfluous to consider their 'code names' even held any significance at all. But he couldn't help but feel like they were in fact too similar to be just that. These three key players were in some way connected, and he had no idea how. He supposed it was in a way beneficial to him that this Z.Z. was acting on his own. It was bad enough knowing two of his enemies had allied, but if a third; who held the kind of power he demonstrated just now...things could have ended worse.

"But there is one thing I have to know Gideon."

The emperor snapped from his thoughts to see his sister's serious face. He nodded in reply. "Of course."

"It is R.R.'s belief that you orchestrated the start of this war. That you built the Phoenix Order to use them to get to where you are now. At the time, I had believed it, although I was hesitant to do so. So tell me brother, can you deny that claim?" Marellia questioned, asking that she was wrong. For her, she hoped that she was.

Gideon, for his part, was completely shocked at the accusation. "How could you say such a thing? That I would...I would repeat the same mistakes made over a hundred years ago? You know how much it means to me that I diligently maintain the peace our father; our whole family has been responsible for. Even if in that I have already failed..." He added slowly. "Do I truly seem like the kind of man who would desire such a thing? Have I fallen that far?" His own defense seemed to be more directed at himself, rather than Marellia. Even still, she saw the pained look in his eyes as they fell to the floor, and recalled the years her brother spent dedicating himself to matters of the court. Studying not just Britannia's, but the entire world's affairs. There was a reason almost no one disputed his ascension to the throne, after all.

Could that kind of person really harbor such dark intentions?

No, if anyone held ulterior motives it would be the man who never once shared his true name. The man who offered a foolish plan giving him more power than anyone in the world; and for what? That in the end he would give it all up, including his own life?

And she was expected to believe that? Of course not.

"You've done far more than can be expected of one man Gideon. Its far easier to maintain an era of war than an era of peace, if history is anything to go by."

The emperor looked up at her, surprised at her response. "But I believe that justice may be on your side after all, and the will of the people behind you as well. You will overcome this, you won't be the one to lose sight of this peace we've all enjoyed for so long. Though you may be tested far more than any before you, it only means there is a brighter future over the hill."

Gideon gave her a small turn of his mouth, barely a ghost of a smile. "Thank you for your trust dear sister. Though I'm not sure I am deserving of it, I've not ready to give in just yet."

How she went from throwing accusations to offering comfort Marellia wasn't certain. But she knew for certain there was nothing in her brother to doubt.

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Nora sat next to the bed that occupied the majority of the space in the small room. It was one of many medical rooms in their base of operations; her mother believed in complete self sufficiency, not even relying on the outside world for anything. It was the reason she was able to create such an organization in compete secrecy and run it for so long without so much as a rumor of its existence.

She quickly glanced to the bed's occupant, believing to have seen movement in the corner of her eye. Of course, there was nothing. He hadn't even taken a breath since their encounter with Z.Z. His body was motionless, his skin not yet cold. Almost as if he was frozen in some sort of limbo; his life not yet completely departed. She was familiar with the process of rebirth that went with the code's immortality. Her mother had been far more accepting of her own curse throughout her daughter's life, using its perks to their fullest. The fearless woman had placed herself in immense danger countless times to benefit the organization she built. And carrying back a lifeless corpse that often returned to life in her arms had become quite normal. It was a strange thing to say the least, but she had become accustomed to it. Or at most, it had always been that way for her. Her mother could not die, for as long as she could remember; and her father was the same. Yet she was terrified of the idea of losing him. Her mother had always been sensitive about the subject of her father. Both the unknown man she never knew, and the demon emperor she only recently discovered. Of course she knew about him, how couldn't she? That time had always been a touchy subject for her, though it was around that time that her organization was first created. Any attempt at asking her about it was met with silence, or a diverting answer. She hadn't wanted to talk about her experience in the era of Lelouch vi Britannia, and that was that. But now she knew why.

Her father had sacrificed his life for the entire world, and for that she was proud. But at the same time, he had abandoned her this whole time, even if he didn't know it. Nora wanted to ask him so many things though, the man whom she had inherited so many interests her mother cared nothing for. Hell, she had no idea why they had such a 'precious' chess set when her mother wouldn't even play with her. She always said she didn't know how, that there was only one person who could teach her. Something she always regretted refusing.

He was right in front of her, and yet he was beyond her reach. An offhand appraisal from him had genuinely sent her heart soaring, there was so much she could learn from him! The man who conquered the world, who threw nations into chaos with but a single voice. Something she had always aspired to be, someone like that. The Black Knights. Not those two faced traitors her mother detested so much, but the ones built upon the name of what they were meant to be. Of course it was rather impossible to inherit something from someone who would ever actually die, but she still felt it her responsibility, her birthright, to at least lead them beside her. Her mother had brought the Black Knights across the entire world, removing threats and mending cracks in the fragile peace she herself maintained. Britannia might like to believe it was their efforts that held the world together, but in truth it was much more her doing.

Nora had a father who challenged the greatest power to ever exist, ushering in a new era for the entire world; and a mother who held that era together for a whole century. And what was she in comparison? She certainly had quite a legacy to live up to.

And boy was she starting off strong.

The man in front of her remained unmoving. And she sighed in defeat. What could she do, if the man who conquered the world was nothing to Z.Z.?

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Vivian Weinberg took another cautious step through what might have once been a trail. Every inch was a battle against overgrown bushes and other plants however. What they were supposed to find here wasn't in need of a hiding place, that much was for certain. She wiped her gloved hand across her forehead. The heat wasn't helping either.

"Ryan, have you found anything on your end?" She asked the other knight over her headset, who was scouring she other side of the island.

"Nothing yet ma'am. The island appears completely uninhabited." Came his response.

"Nothing from up here either." Alex added from his temporary Vincent frame. "You'd think there would be _something_ you could see."

"Maybe it was an airship after all." Enna suggested.

"Well, we shouldn't rule it out just yet." Vivian admitted before getting slapped in the face by a large leaf. "God why is it so damn hot he-" she couldn't finish, losing her footing and tumbling down the side of a small cliff. She landed in bush with a light crash, groaning at the sudden pain.

"Lady Weinberg! Are you alright?!" All her companions simultaneously voiced their worries in her ringing ears.

"I'm fine." She growled, soundly frustrated as she pulled a twig from her hair. "Wait a minute..."

As she became aware of her surroundings, she quickly realized it wasn't a cliff she fell over, but rather the mouth of a cave. "Maybe the entire thing is underground?" She muttered to herself, hobbling her way toward the cave entrance. It opened up to a rather large empty space, and she shone a light across the various plant life threatening to overtake the cave floor. She walked further back, until the walls closed around her, and she came to face something that certainly wasn't natural.

Pillars, carved walls, and stone steps leading to a giant door. It was cracked, a large chunk of it seemed to be only recently repaired. But she could still easily make out the markings carved into it, and the symbol emblazoned in the center.

Even still, the stone door didn't appear to actually have anything behind it. Was this what they were looking for? It was more than nothing, and definitely abnormal. But the more she investigated her discovery, the more anticlimactic it appeared. There was no secret lever or button, and no way to continue beyond the door. The cracks seemed to only reveal more stone behind them.

Vivian sighed in defeat, slumping against the stone door. She just hoped the others found something more interesting.

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Lelouch stared dumbly at the person before him. His eyes had lost the determined fire they always seemed to have in their last few days. In its place, perhaps he found a sense of truth about the world even Lelouch had yet to glimpse.

"Suzaku." He breathed, hardly able to say much anything else.

"I love what you did with your hair, by the way." The young man before him said offhandedly as he crossed the infinite white to face him.

"That's what you have to say?" He laughed a little, finding a foothold in this impossible conversation. "You haven't changed in the slightest you know."

"Yes well, this is how the collective unconscious has chosen that I am perceived by you." The phantom Suzaku explained to him. "You know, thanks to your geass I actually lived to be quite old. I only finally kicked the bucket about twenty years ago. I hung up the fancy cape a long time earlier, when I felt the world no longer needed the miracle worker watching over them. But that didn't stop me from keeping my own eye open." He smiled, contrary to the pained features that crossed Lelouch's face.

"Suzaku...I-" he tried to say something before he was cut off.

"Don't apologize." Suzaku interrupted, perfectly aware of what his friend was going to say. "You served your sentence, and I served mine. We did some pretty messed up things, and we paid the price for it. Either way, I don't regret the life I lived. I felt proud, at some point, for being able to carry on Zero's legacy-your legacy, Lelouch. You were always more aware of the path you had to take, the things you needed to accomplish. I thought I had my own ideals, my own path, but I was really was a fool. I'm sorry that I never got to say this in life but...I was wrong." He gave another smile, more pained this time.

"I really thought I could change Britannia myself, from the inside. But I refused to see the fatal flaw with that way of thinking. Britannia wouldn't change no matter what I did, because I was not Britannia. No matter how much power I got, no matter who's neck I stepped on to get an inch closer, I could not reach the height I needed to make those changes. Because the world in reality was not the hierarchy we pretended it was. I had no control over the lives of those below me. The only one who had any say was the emperor himself. As a prince you knew that right from the start. And as your friend, a witness to what happened to you I should have too." Suzaku sighed, shaking his head just slightly. "All the while I preached condemnation for your line of thinking. I called your methods inexcusable because you simply did whatever it took to get what you wanted, what ultimately everyone wanted in the end. I said 'you should use the system to get what you want,' remember? As if the system would allow someone to completely erase its purpose. The best part was though, while talking you down I commited the very same atrocities in the name of my progress. Selling out your people, your best friend is the 'right way?' You were right. I was a fool."

"I don't think I was right either Suzaku, not completely." Lelouch finally spoke up, surprising his old friend with his words. "I was an angry, vengeful kid who saw only the path that satisfied my bloodlust. I kept justifying my actions by substituting my motives with Nunnally, and pretending like I had some noble cause. It really was a game for me, trying to see how much damage I could inflict on those who wronged me. As an added bonus maybe I could build a better world for Nunnally? The further down I went the more often it became an afterthought. I had to keep pushing thoughts like my humanity aside, telling myself that what I was doing was right. If I didn't, I don't know how I could have lived with myself, knowing I was the one who killed Euphy. God, I could never make up for what I did to her."

"She doesn't blame you, Lelouch." Suzaku suddenly said. "She knows it wasn't your fault."

"That doesn't change the fact that I should have known, I should have been prepared. I was so stupid to say that, and she paid the price for it." Lelouch continued, ignoring Suzaku's attempt at comfort.

"She really was better than the both of us. She had a pure vision of what the world could be, much more than what we could see." Suzaku instead chose a different approach. "I've had a very long time to think about that, after all. For a long time I blamed you for causing all the pain and suffering the world went through, disguising my own anger at losing her. I guess we didn't deserve the kind and gentle change Euphy desired. It was your fierce anger we got instead. Who knows what might have happened had she survived all that. But I've stopped worrying about what could have been, and I've started looking to what can be. You said it yourself didn't you? Humanity looks toward the future, ever striving for a better life ahead of them. Sometimes we look back, wondering what might have been. And sometimes we get lost, in that world of once was. But the ones who keep moving forward are the ones who build that future. You tore down the world so engrossed in the past, building that future in the process. You passed the torch on to me, and to Nunnally to ensure the world kept down that path. Now it's time the torch is returned to you. I don't believe it was a mistake you obtained that code. It's your duty to see this world moves on, and your right to forge it. You, who destroys worlds, and creates them anew."

The last time he smiled it was filled with confidence. Suzaku placed a hand on Lelouch's shoulder, and nodded. "Go on, my friend. There are people who still need you. You can't be wasting time talking with ghosts."

The dream faded, and Suzaku's form gone in the light. He could feel he weight of his body once more, and the sounds of the world around him. As his eyes struggled to break through the blanket of sleep, he heard one final message.

"And be sure to take care of my great grandkid for me, alright?"

This time Lelouch smiled, even if only in his mind. "Of course."

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Isaac grit his teeth in frustration after returning from another failed attack. Ever since he discovered the 'Akuma's' illusion trick, they suddenly started playing a lot more defensively. Isaac quickly realized that he couldn't make dedicated strikes, knowing full well they likely were far from target. On top of that, his opponent would make swift counterattacks from an unseen angle. It took all he had just to minimize the damage, relying not on what he could see, but what he could feel. Even still, the sun was starting to set, and this battle was getting nowhere. The damage done to the city below had only steadily increased, and Z.Z. already wiped out any interference. It was clear this was only going to end with one of them a smoldering heap on the street. Except that wouldn't be happening any time soon, at this rate.

"Who are you?" He demanded. "What are you doing working with Z.Z.?!"

He heard what sounded like a scoff from his enemy. "What are you saying? Don't you know who it is _you're_ working with?! The millions of people he's killed?!"

That surprised him. He supposed it made sense they would know who R.R. was, seeing Z.Z. did and all. And sure, he knew all about the demon emperor and how evil he was. Except now he had a new outlook on that, after seeing just what came out of such acts. "It was all for a just cause I'm sure your friend didn't bother to mention." He defended. "Those sacrifices were necessary to build the future, if they hadn't then the wars of the past would never have come to an end!" And he believed it. Sure he may not have lived those events one hundred years ago, but he heard stories. His family who lived at the time were right in the thick of it. He knew just how bad it was, and how good they had it now.

"So it's okay to just throw away lives like it's nothing?! What if you had to die to see that came true? What then?!" The pilot threw at him, switching to a frontal assault out of their verbal anger.

Isaac took the blow head on with his shields, engaging in a power struggle as he faced down the frame's sleek black claws. "Then so be it." He thought of Annie, everything he had already lost. He refused to let that be in vain. "Nothing comes without a price, and I'll gladly pay anything!"

"You idiot!" His opponent screamed at Isaac, shocking him. "Can't you see he's just using you?! R.R. won't make any of this go away, he's just making it worse!"

The Akuma attempted to bring its foot around into Isaac's head, but he backed away, distancing himself from the vicious knightmare. "Z.Z. is only trying to end all this conflict! Without anyone suffering!"

"Is this not what you call suffering?!" Isaac countered, gesturing to the detestation around them. "How is he any more righteous?"

Their was hesitation on his foe's end, and Isaac quickly seized to attempt landing a blow. The Akuma quickly brought its arms up to defend, resulting in another deadlock. "There is no righteousness is killing." They finally said. "All I want is to end it. Why can't you just see that's what we want?"

Isaac frowned, before quickly giving in to anger. "How am I supposed to agree with someone who murdered my sister?!" He slammed down on the smaller frame with all he had, sending it careening into a building.

After a few moments, the Akuma slowly pulled itself back up, making no attempt to retaliate. "Is that the reason then? Why you refuse to see the truth?"

The oddly calm voice only put Isaac further on edge. Instead of an attack, he heard a hissing of the cockpit being opened. The pilot finally revealed them self. The blood quickly drained from his face, looking upon someone he never thought he would see again.

"Then allow me to erase any doubts from your mind. My stupid brother."

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 **I kind of feel like Isaac lacks much character, much to my dismay. I tried to at least give him a stance or his own ideals based off of what has happened to him recently. But I wish I had further expounded upon how he reached that conclusion. I've always wanted to add more stuff to previous chapters, little things like that, so maybe I finally will someday.**


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